US Politics Live Updates: ‘New territory of Islamic Republic’: Iran mock Trump with new map

Iranian diplomats in India have responded to Donald Trump’s statement claiming the Strait of Hormuz as new US territory, posting a map of the United States with California highlighted under the text “NEW TERRITORY OF ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN.”

While the post by Tehran’s consulate in Hyderabad is clearly tongue-in-cheek, California is home to the largest population of Iranian immigrants in the US, according to the Migration Policy Institute.

The majority live in the Los Angeles area, with many Persian residents referring to the city as “Tehrangeles,” in a portmanteau of Tehran and Los Angeles.

Opinions among the diaspora have been divided by the US-Israel war against Iran, with some hoping it will lead to the fall of the current government and others wary that it will backfire.

Conditions for US Navy sailors aboard warships are again in the spotlight, with news a destroyer suffered a major breakdown in the Pacific Ocean.

The USS Benfold “reported an engineering casualty involving its generators, causing a loss of power” on July 24, Navy spokesman Commander Matthew Comer told Associated Press.

The breakdown, first reported by USNI News, meant the crew of 300 sailors went without drinking water, meals, functioning toilets and air conditioning for days aboard the ship, Comer said.

The Pentagon is grappling with serious questions about the quality of life aboard naval vessels and the military’s ability to supply ships during the conflict with Iran.

Reports last week revealed the USS Abraham Lincoln, which has spent a record-setting 250 uninterrupted days at sea, has experienced shortages of supplies, including food and hygiene products, while crew members have suffered from stress and poor mental health.

Iran has responded to Donald Trump’s earlier social media post showing a map identifying the Strait of Hormuz as “new US territory”.

The Iranian regime’s secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezaei, today posted a map on X mocking the president’s claims with the main caption “7,000 miles from Washington”.

Rezaei wrote: “The gap between America’s inability to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and its claim to own it is greater than the 7,000-mile distance between Washington and the Strait itself.”

Iran has lost significant influence over the Strait of Hormuz, according to analysis from CNN.

Patrols by US Navy warships are providing much-needed reassurance to shipping companies as their vessels transit the key waterway.

More than 80 per cent of vessel transits through the Strait of Hormuz over the past two weeks have taken the Omani route – a UN-authorised shipping channel that Iran vehemently opposes – according to Kpler, which tracks ships using transponders and satellite data.

Despite Iranian attacks on vessels in the strait, most ships have recently chosen to ignore Iran’s demands and cross the strait with the promise of protection from US naval forces.

“It increasingly looks like Iran has at least partially lost control of the strait,” said Homayoun Falakshahi, head of crude oil analysis at Kpler.

That stands in stark contrast to a month ago, when Kpler observed virtually no shipping traffic via the Omani route.

The expiration of the Memorandum of Understanding between the United States and Iran this week in theory allows Iran to begin charging tolls again. But it doesn’t appear the country has been able to, according to Kpler.

Despite Iran showing no signs of relinquishing influence over the Strait of Hormuz, Donald Trump posted a map identifying the vital waterway as “new US territory”.

About 25 per cent of global oil stocks usually flow through the strait, but with no resolution of the conflict, the number of tankers transiting has collapsed.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, were up 0.1 per cent to $US91 a barrel early on Tuesday (Wednesday AEST). its highest level since late July.

 Iranian drones and mines remain a threat to tankers in the strait.

In a captionless post on Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump circled the strait and labelled it “new US territory”.

The president initially made the claim at an event in New York last week.

France will expel two Iranian diplomats in the coming days following what Paris described as an attack on two French diplomats in Tehran in July.

In a post on X, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said the Iranian people were the primary victims of the current period of heightened tensions in the Middle East, citing both the “bloody repression” of protests in January and air strikes during the US-Iran war.

The dispute stems from the detention of two embassy employees for several hours by Iranian security services in what he described as “an extremely serious act of intimidation” and a violation of their diplomatic immunity.

“That has now happened. Two Iranian diplomats in France will be expelled in the coming days,” Barrot said.

Iranian authorities did not immediately comment on France’s decision.

- With Associated Press

Israel has confirmed it was behind airstrikes against a Syrian military airport, where it claims Turkey was planning to deploy forces.

“Israel and Syria agreed to a status quo in security matters, which Syria was on the verge of breaching by permitting Turkish troops to deploy at an airbase near Aleppo,” says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office in a statement.

The PM’s office says Israel “repeatedly warned Syria that such a deployment would pose a threat to Israel’s security.”

Turkey, which has close ties with the Syrian government and has been providing assistance to Syria’s military, has tense relations with Israel.

Eight strikes hit the runway of the Abu Duhur air base in the north-eastern province of Idlib, causing damage but no casualties, Syrian state TV said. 

Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani told reporters in Damascus that Syria condemns the “Israeli aggression”.

- Reported with Associated Press

Iranian Parliament Speaker and lead negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf (below) has accused the US of trying to force more concessions from Iran.

“Americans think squeezing Iran harder will win concessions that were never part of the agreement,” Ghalibaf wrote in an overnight X post.

The official also said that US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth are “way out of their league.”

“Stop waiting for the clown crew to pull a rabbit out of their hat and clean up the mess you made,” Ghalibaf wrote.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi also weighed in, apparently deriding Donald Trump’s post on social media depicting the Strait of Hormuz as American territory.

“Just as Trump correctly wrote the name of the eternal Persian Gulf, his delusion regarding the Strait of Hormuz will soon either be corrected, or we will correct this deluded man’s delusions for him,” Gharibabadi wrote on X.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) has received a report of a commercial ship being attacked and heavily damaged in the Red Sea.

UKMTO says the incident took place about 74kms south-east of the city of al-Makha in western Yemen.

Reports suggest the unmanned cargo vessel was hit by several unidentified projectiles and suffered “complete constructive loss”.

Authorities are investigating.