President Trump Claims US Has Full Control Over Strait of Hormuz

JAKARTA - President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he did not trust Iran and claimed the United States now had "full control" of the Strait of Hormuz.

The situation in the Middle East has remained tense since the US-Israeli war against Iran began in late February.

The Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global energy traffic passes before the war, has been hit by Iran's tight controls and a US blockade.

"I don't trust Iran. Why, you say I trust Iran!? I am the last person who would trust Iran," President Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland after his visit to Ohio, Anadolu (12/8) reported.

"They constantly lied to me," he continued.

"Right now we have total control over the Strait of Hormuz. They have no control. We have total control. We own it," President Trump said.

As previously reported, the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran confirmed that the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed as long as the United States did not change its behavior and accept Tehran's conditions to end the war.

"As long as America does not change its behavior and does not accept Iran's conditions, the Strait of Hormuz will not be opened," Mohsen Rezaei, a close ally of Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, said, launching Al Arabiya from Tasnim.

"America must end the war, pay for Iran's frozen assets, and the war must end throughout the region, including in Lebanon and Gaza," he said.

"If an agreement is reached between Iran and Oman regarding the transit route through the Strait of Hormuz, this agreement will be separate from the issue of closing the Strait of Hormuz," Rezaei said.

There was no immediate response from Washington to Iran's latest statement, but President Donald Trump has previously made new demands from the US side - that Iran pay compensation for the dead in various wars, attacks, and demonstrations - and accused Tehran of being a "cunning negotiator."

"We will seek compensation for the damage they have caused over a 50-year period," President Trump said at the White House on Monday.

In an interview released Monday night, he laid out some of the options he has at this point in the conflict: simply "live with it" and let Tehran suffer economic failure, or hit them with "very, very hard."

It is known that President Trump often changes his attitude regarding the conflict with Iran, between issuing threats of escalation and claiming that a peace deal is in sight.