🔻Nushabadi: Trump’s comments about the Strait of Hormuz are a reaction to a bill by the parliament

🔻Nushabadi: Trump’s comments about the Strait of Hormuz are a reaction to a bill by the parliament

A senior Iranian foreign ministry official condemned Donald Trump’s recent remarks, in which he said that he would soon declare the Strait of Hormuz as “U.S. territory,” and said the comments were a reaction to a recent bill by Iran’s parliament to control this waterway.

Hussein Nushabadi, the parliamentary affairs director-general at Iran’s foreign ministry, told IRNA: “Such vicious, ridiculous and controversial remarks are only meant for Donald Trump’s domestic consumption, and his passive reaction to the parliament’s proposed strategic action plan to ensure the security and sustainable progress of the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf.”

The bill is currently under review in Iran’s parliament.

Mr. Nushabadi also said: “While Iran’s and Oman’s approach to drafting a management mechanism for the Strait during peacetime would, in practice, reinforce Iran’s positions, it appears that the president of the United States has found himself in a strategic squeeze and is trying to attract global attention toward himself through scapegoating and baseless claims.”

Iranian officials say they are negotiating with Oman for a temporary route in the Strait of Hormuz, but despite the U.S. naval blockade, finalizing this agreement would not mean reopening the strait by Iran.