'We will correct him': Iran fires back at Trump over Strait of Hormuz claim

Tehran: Iran has hit back at US President Donald Trump over his claim that the United States has "total control" over the Strait of Hormuz, after he shared an AI-generated image portraying the strategic waterway as "NEW U.S. Territory".

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi criticised Trump in a post on X, saying the US President's claim would soon be "corrected", either by circumstances or by Iran itself.

"Just as Trump correctly wrote the name of the eternal Persian Gulf, soon his delusion regarding the Strait of Hormuz will either be corrected or we will correct the delusions of this deluded man," Gharibabadi said.

The Strait of Hormuz is a crucial global energy corridor, through which a significant share of the world's energy supplies passes. The competing claims come amid heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran, with the waterway's status carrying major implications for global shipping and energy markets.

Iran's newly appointed head of the Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezaei, also dismissed Trump's assertion, pointing to what he described as a gap between Washington's claims and its ability to influence the waterway.

"The gap between America's inability to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and its claim to own it is greater than the 7,000-mile distance between Washington and the Strait itself. Welcome to the post-American order in the Persian Gulf," Rezaei said.

Trump had shared an AI-generated image showing the Strait of Hormuz, which separates Iran from the Arabian Peninsula, enclosed in a frame marked "NEW U.S. Territory".

The post followed Trump's remarks a day earlier in which he said Washington had "total control" over the Strait and backed the idea of declaring it US territory.

"I think it's a great idea. I mean, we control it with the blockade. I like the idea of declaring it a territory. We have total control over the Strait," Trump said.

He said Iran could still "be a nuisance" by laying mines in the water, but maintained that the US blockade had been effective.

Iran has rejected the US claims over the strategically important waterway. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Tehran would not reopen the Strait until Washington fulfils commitments under a 14-point memorandum of understanding, including lifting the blockade, releasing frozen Iranian assets and removing oil sanctions.

"Until America's commitments in the memorandum of understanding - including lifting the blockade, releasing frozen assets, lifting oil sanctions, ending threats and military operations on all fronts, and other conditions to which America committed - are implemented, the 'Strait' will not be opened," Ghalibaf said.