US President Donald Trump on 14 July declared that the United States would intensify military strikes against Iran, seek control of the Strait of Hormuz, and reimpose a naval blockade on Tehran — while leaving the door open for diplomacy if Iran agreed to terms. The remarks, made in the Oval Office and in a radio interview, mark a sharp escalation in the ongoing US-Iran confrontation.

The Hormuz Declaration

Speaking to reporters after signing executive orders on Utah national monuments, Trump stated: 'We're attacking them tonight and we're taking out all of their capability for anything having to do with the strait, with the Hormuz Strait. And I think in the end, we will end up just controlling the whole thing.'

He further announced the restoration of a naval blockade targeting Iran specifically. 'We're putting the blockade back and it's a blockade, not for anybody but Iran,' Trump said, adding that the measure would bar any entity doing business with Iran from transiting the strait while allowing all others free passage. He described the blockade as potentially 'more effective even than hitting them.'

A Deal That Collapsed

Trump said a negotiated agreement with Tehran had appeared imminent before falling apart. 'We had a deal yesterday or the day before yesterday, it was all done and then they broke up that deal immediately because they found out there was something in the deal they didn't like,' he said.

Despite the breakdown, Trump maintained that diplomacy was not off the table. 'Yeah, I think a deal is possible. Sure, I do,' he said. He characterised Iran's leadership as 'stone-cold, crazy people' and accused Tehran of a pattern of abandoning agreed terms: 'They make deals and, to them, deals are made to be broken. They are extremely unreliable people.'

Nuclear Facility 'Pickaxe' in Crosshairs

In a separate interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt, Trump disclosed that a facility he referred to as 'Pickaxe' — described as an Iranian nuclear-related site — was under close surveillance and was being considered for a strike. 'We'll probably give Pickaxe a shot relatively soon,' he said, adding that Space Force assets were monitoring the location and that no current activity had been detected there.

Trump reiterated that preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons remained the central US objective. 'Iran will not have a nuclear weapon,' he said.

Military Claims and Gulf Burden-Sharing

The President asserted that months of US military operations had severely degraded Iran's armed forces. 'We knocked out their Navy in a period of one month. We knocked out their air force. Their air force is nonexistent. We knocked out most of their missiles, most of their drones,' he said. These claims could not be independently verified.

Trump also called on Gulf states benefiting from US military protection to share the financial cost, naming Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait. 'I want to be reimbursed because we're protecting a very rich portion of the world,' he said, noting that the US no longer depends on Middle Eastern oil for its own energy needs.

What Comes Next

The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world's most critical oil chokepoints, through which roughly 20% of global petroleum trade transits. Any sustained US effort to assert control over the waterway would carry significant implications for global energy markets, regional security, and international maritime law. Tehran has not yet issued an official response to Trump's latest statements, and the trajectory of any renewed diplomatic contact remains uncertain.