SOURCE :- SIASAT NEWS
United States President Donald Trump has posted an image of a map on his social media platform, Truth Social, portraying the US as owning the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway that has been under Iran’s chokehold since the war started on February 28.
In a post on Tuesday, August 18, Trump shared an image with no caption. It showed that a “New US Territory” will now include the Strait of Hormuz.
The image appears to bear similarities to his threat, declaring Hormuz as US territory after Iran’s “surrender” last week.
The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow passage of water between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. It is used to transport a number of valuable commodities, most notably oil.
Around a fifth of the world’s traded oil typically flows through the Strait of Hormuz every day. Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Iran are all major exporters.
At its narrowest point, the strait is roughly 34 kilometres wide.
Ships travelling the strait must follow narrow shipping lanes to safely navigate the shallow water, making it even more of a chokepoint.
US now begging for talks on our terms: Araghchi
Trump’s social media post comes as Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the US is “begging” to negotiate, adding that Washington’s objective in the war was to force Iran to “surrender,” which they will not do.
“America is now begging to negotiate with us according to our conditions,” he said.
He stated that the Memorandum of Understanding had 13 provisions in their favour and one in the US’. Araghchi accused Israel of “doing everything it could to sabotage and prevent its implementation”.
“We won the war, and we also won in diplomacy,” he said. “We forced the enemy to accept our conditions.”
Saudi resumes loading oil in Hormuz
Meanwhile, Reuters has reported that Saudi Aramco resumed loading oil from the Strait of Hormuz last week, with additional tankers currently waiting to load.
Citing shipping data and trade sources, the report said on Monday, August 17, the Saudi oil company offered Asian refiners Arab Medium and Arab Heavy crude shipments for loading via ship-to-ship transfers off the UAE’s Fujairah.
Aramco had suspended its sales for days after its ship was attacked last month in the strait.
SOURCE : SIASAT
