The key facts

  • Trump called the conflict with Iran, now in its ninth month, not a war but a possible «occupation»
  • He stated that the US controls the Strait of Hormuz and is exporting record volumes of oil
  • Iran rejects US claims of control over the strait and ties its opening to its own conditions

Trump's statements in Florida

US President Donald Trump, speaking to reporters on Friday after a speech at the NASA center in Florida, said that Washington «could be an occupier» in Iran. According to him, the war with Iran, which has been going on for nine months, cannot be called a war, since in several months «no one has even been wounded». «All we are is maybe an occupier. We could be an occupier,» his words are quoted by the Anadolu agency.

The Strait of Hormuz and strikes near Kish

Trump again stated that the US controls the Strait of Hormuz — a key route for global energy supplies. «We control the Strait of Hormuz. We are exporting more oil than ever before in the strait's history,» he said. Asked about strikes near the Iranian island of Kish on Friday, Trump at first refused to discuss the topic, but acknowledged «minor strikes» and added that Iranian forces had built an anti-aircraft installation, which the US destroyed within minutes. The statements came a few days after Trump confirmed strikes on an Iranian air defense facility on Kish, calling the operation a minor attack rather than a return to full-scale war.

Iran's position and the context of the conflict

Iran rejects US claims of control over the strait: according to Anadolu, Tehran insists that it retains strategic control over the waterway and will not open it until its conditions are met. In the same speech, Trump contrasted the conflict with Iran with the Russia-Ukraine war, which, according to him, claimed 25,000 lives in October alone: «This is called a war,» he said about the fighting between Moscow and Kyiv. The US and Israel military campaign against Iran began on February 28; a ceasefire was reached in April, and in June a memorandum aimed at a peaceful settlement was signed, but the negotiations have not yet led to a final agreement.