United States President Donald Trump has suggested renaming the Strait of Hormuz after himself, reasserting that the waterway is under Washington’s control despite near-daily Iranian attacks on ships in the area. Trump’s suggestion on Wednesday came less than 24 hours after the US struck several targets in Iran, killing at least four people, including two children, at a wedding in the southern city of Sirik. The fighting pushed oil prices upwards by around 4 percent.
Despite repeated claims by US officials that the Strait of Hormuz is now open and millions of barrels of oil are transiting through it daily, oil prices have not fallen in recent weeks. Iran continues to maintain that the waterway is closed and under its control. On Wednesday, Saudi Arabia accused Iran of carrying out a strike on an oil tanker that killed two people.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), a monitoring agency affiliated with the British Royal Navy, has been reporting attacks on vessels in Hormuz almost every day. In the US, the price of petrol is rising. It reached $4.12 per gallon (3.8 litres) on Wednesday, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA), up from less than $3 before the war started on February 28.
When Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu started the conflict by attacking Iran and killing its supreme leader earlier this year, the US president promised that the war would last for six weeks. But the promised quick end to what Trump initially dubbed a “little excursion” never materialised. The conflict entered its seventh month last week.
Still, Trump has continued to claim victory and control over Hormuz, repeatedly claiming that Iran has been defeated militarily despite its ability to strike back against US interests in the region. After the US strikes on Tuesday, Trump sternly warned Tehran against retaliating, saying that Iran would be “hit again at a much harder and higher level” if it responds. But within hours, Iran’s military fired missiles and drones at US bases in Bahrain, Jordan and Iraq.
The “Trump Strait” suggestion on Wednesday is the latest push by the US president to assert control over a conflict that critics say was a strategic misstep that is turning into a quagmire. Last month, Trump said he views the Strait of Hormuz as “American territory”. Last week, he unilaterally renamed Lake Ontario, which borders both the US and Canada, as “Lake America” due to the ongoing US trade disagreements with Canada.
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