Stocks● Neutral
Iran Rebuffs Trump Strait Claim; Bulk Carrier Struck, No Talks
Deputy foreign minister says strait will remain Iranian. UKMTO reports vessel hit by projectile. No ceasefire talks underway. Energy prices elevated as U.S. blockade continues.
Continue with
Iran rejected President Donald Trump's claim that the Strait of Hormuz would become U.S. territory. A bulk carrier in the waterway was struck by an unknown projectile, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre said Saturday. No ceasefire talks are underway between Washington and Tehran.
"The Strait of Hormuz has been Iranian, is Iranian, and will remain Iranian," Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said on X late Friday. "This strait will only be closed and opened under Iran's command."
Trump earlier said that after the U.S. defeats Iran, "pretty soon I'll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States." He had floated the idea of imposing tolls in the strait after the conflict, then dropped it. The strait was an open, un-tolled international waterway before the U.S. and Israel started the war on Feb. 28 by launching strikes against Iran.
Iran's foreign minister, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, told Shahrara News that "no negotiations have been held between us and the United States at this time." Qatar and Pakistan are exchanging messages, he said. Those exchanges do not constitute negotiations.
Shipping in the strait has come under fire repeatedly since an interim ceasefire broke down in June. The U.S. has struck Iranian targets as part of its blockade of Iranian ports. The strait is a chokepoint for roughly 20% of global oil shipments. The latest strike on a bulk carrier adds to the risk for commercial vessels transiting the waterway.