ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that several countries, including China, France, Japan, South Korea, and the United Kingdom, will deploy warships to ensure the Strait of Hormuz remains “open and safe.”
Trump said the countries are among those “affected by Iran’s attempted closure of the Hormuz Strait.”
“In the meantime, the United States will be bombing the hell out of the shoreline,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
His remarks came after Iran’s newly named Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, said on Thursday that “the lever of closing the Strait of Hormuz must continue to be used” against Iran’s enemies in the ongoing Iran-Israel-US war.
The 56-year-old leader made the comment in his first written message since his appointment last Sunday, which was read on state television. His appointment came a little over a week after the United States and Israel launched a joint aerial campaign against Iran on February 28, killing several senior leaders and commanders, including his father, long-time Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (1939–2026).
In his first public message, Khamenei said Iran should use the “lever of blocking the Strait of Hormuz,” describing the waterway as an area where “the enemy is highly vulnerable.”
The Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed to commercial traffic after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) recently declared it a restricted war zone, warning it would “set ablaze” any ship attempting to pass through.
“One way or the other, we will soon get the Hormuz Strait OPEN, SAFE, and Free!” Trump vowed.
Often described as the world’s most critical oil shipping corridor, the Strait of Hormuz has remained largely closed to commercial shipping for over the past two weeks as the war rages on.
The strait typically handles about 20 percent of global seaborne oil trade.
The conflict has drawn in more than a dozen countries and has already disrupted regional oil production, forcing major producers to reduce output and seek alternative export routes as global energy markets face mounting uncertainty.
On Wednesday, Tehran warned the world should prepare for oil prices reaching $200 per barrel and said any tanker bound for the United States, Israel, or their partners could be considered a legitimate target.
The International Energy Agency has warned that oil markets are facing “the largest supply disruption in history.”
However, despite Khamenei’s threats, Iran’s representative to the United Nations ruled out closing the Strait of Hormuz in remarks to Rudaw over the weekend.
“We are not going to close the Strait of Hormuz,” Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran’s Permanent Representative to the UN, told Rudaw, adding “it is our inherent right to preserve peace and security in this waterway.”