Trump threatens to 'take over' Iran if Strait of Hormuz is closed

Iran hit back at Donald Trump on Monday after the US president threatened to “take over the rest of the country” if the Strait of Hormuz is closed again. “You make threats; we take action,” Ebrahim Azizi, the head of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, wrote on social media in apparent reference to Trump. “The Strait of Hormuz is neither your personal casino nor the backyard of modern-day pirates; these are Iranian sovereign waters, and the ultimate decision rests with the noble people of Iran and its brave armed forces.” Iran lifted its effective blockade of Hormuz last week after agreeing with the US to extend a ceasefire to allow for peace negotiations, but Tehran’s Revolutionary Guards on Saturday declared the waterway shut once again, in response to Israeli strikes in Lebanon. The US president said in response he had warned Iranian officials that “you close [the strait] and you won’t have a country”, Fox News’s Trey Yingst reported on Sunday. High stakes talks aimed at finalising a deal to end the war are meanwhile expected to continue through the week, after a “difficult” start that saw Iranian negotiators walk out over Trump’s “insults”. #trump #trumpiran #irantrump Watch more on Independent TV: https://tinyurl.com/yc7ukx9n The Independent is the world’s most free-thinking newsbrand, providing global news, commentary and analysis for the independently-minded. Subscribe: https://bit.ly/Subscribe-to-Independent Find us on social: TikTok / https://www.tiktok.com/@independent Instagram / https://www.instagram.com/the.independent/ X (Twitter) / https://twitter.com/Independent Facebook / https://www.facebook.com/TheIndependentOnline Download the iOS & Android app: https://tinyurl.com/2s3ts5dh Sign up to our newsletters: https://tinyurl.com/2bmw565x Help to support truly independent journalism. Every dollar you contribute will directly fund additional special reports and investigations from a free-thinking, award-winning newsroom you can trust: https://www.independent.co.uk/donations