WANA (Aug 18) – Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister has dismissed U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest claim regarding the Strait of Hormuz, asserting that Tehran will soon rectify what it describes as the American leader’s recurring delusions on the matter.

 

In a sharp response to Trump’s recent social media post—in which he referred to the strategic waterway as “new U.S. territory” alongside a fabricated image—Kazem Gharibabadi took to X (formerly Twitter) to reject the claim. “Just as Trump correctly wrote the name of the Persian Gulf,” he stated, “his illusion about the Strait of Hormuz will soon be corrected—or we will correct the delusions of this delusional individual.”

 

The exchange marks the latest escalation in a war of words between Washington and Tehran, coming as the U.S. president has repeatedly asserted American claims over the strait—a vital chokepoint for global energy shipments that remains firmly under Iranian control.

Iran’s Parliament Speaker and chief negotiator, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, had earlier laid out Tehran’s red lines, emphasizing that the strait will not be reopened until key conditions outlined in the Islamabad memorandum are fully met. These include the complete lifting of the naval blockade, the release of frozen Iranian assets, the removal of oil sanctions, and an end to military threats and operations against the Islamic Republic.

 

The rhetoric has drawn parallel responses from Iran’s military establishment. Brigadier General Mohbi, spokesperson for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), categorically rejected Trump’s claim of a covert communication channel between U.S. officials and Iranian military commanders. Describing the allegation as “stemming from delusions and nightmares of defeat and desperation over the war,” the general insisted that no talks whatsoever are taking place between IRGC officials and their American counterparts.

 

“The IRGC makes its position clear on the battlefield,” Mohbi added, suggesting that Trump’s repeated assertions are an attempt to temporarily influence oil and energy markets. From Iran’s perspective, he concluded, the only viable path forward for Washington is to accept defeat and comply with Tehran’s stipulated conditions.

 

The Strait of Hormuz, through which approximately one-fifth of global petroleum consumption passes, has long been a flashpoint in U.S.-Iran tensions. Analysts view Trump’s recurring claims as an effort to mask strategic setbacks in the region, while Iranian officials have consistently dismissed any extraterritorial assertions over the waterway as legally and historically unfounded.