Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: US President Donald Trump doubled down on his plan to take over the Strait of Hormuz, posting on August 18 a map of the crucial artery for global energy supplies showing it as “New US Territory”.
After posting the map on Truth Social a day after the memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Iran imploded, he said: “The Hormuz Strait is open and operating. All water mines have been removed or detonated.”
Trump, who is under domestic pressure because of the price rise attributed to the Hormuz crisis, added that the US naval blockade of Iranian ports “remains in full force and effect”.
However, shipping has not resumed anywhere near normal levels, according to various agencies monitoring shipping in the Strait.
Attacks on ships continued with a British monitor of maritime incidents reporting that a “bulk carrier was struck by an unknown projectile whilst conducting a transit of the Strait of Hormuz”, resulting in damage to the vessel and crew casualties.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency, which also reported a similar attack, said: “Vessels are advised to transit with caution.”
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi earlier called Trump seizing the Strait a “fanciful delusion” that cannot be accomplished by a “tweet”.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said the Strait would not open till its conditions were met, according to Tasnim news agency.
Earlier, Trump threatened to attack Oman, an ally, if it interferes with his plans for the Strait.
“If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the s–t out of them,” he told an interviewer on Fox News.
