Trump says US 'could be an occupier' in Iran

US President Donald Trump on Friday suggested that Washington "could be an occupier" in Iran, claiming it controls the Strait of Hormuz and is extracting record amounts of oil from the strategic waterway. Speaking to reporters after a speech at a NASA facility in the state of Florida, Trump contrasted the US war with Iran with the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which he claimed killed 25,000 in October. "That’s called a war," Trump said, referring to fighting between Moscow and Kyiv.

He argued that the war with Iran, now in its ninth month, could not be called a war because "nobody's even wounded" in several months. "All we are is maybe an occupier. (We) could be an occupier," he added. Trump again claimed the US controls the Strait of Hormuz, a critical passage for global energy supplies. "We control the Hormuz Strait," he said. "We’re taking out more oil now than we have at any time in the history of the Hormuz Strait."

Asked whether US forces carried out reported strikes near Iran's Qeshm Island on Friday, Trump initially declined to discuss it but acknowledged limited military operations. "I don't want to talk about. We do minor strikes," he said. He added that Iranian forces had constructed an anti-aircraft installation that the US destroyed within minutes. The remarks came days after Trump confirmed US strikes against an Iranian air defense facility on Qeshm Island, describing the operation as a minor attack rather than a return to full-scale war.

Iran has rejected US claims of controlling the strait, insisting that Tehran retains strategic control of the waterway and will not reopen it until its conditions are met. The US and Israel launched a military offensive against Iran on Feb. 28. A ceasefire was reached in April, followed by a memorandum in June aimed at securing a peace agreement, but negotiations have failed to produce a final settlement.