US President Donald Trump has described the Strait of Hormuz as “American territory” and claimed Washington has “total control” of the strategic waterway, as his administration prepares a new package of sanctions aimed at intensifying pressure on Iran.

“I view the Strait of Hormuz as an American territory right now. It’s an American territory,” Trump told a campaign rally in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on Friday.

The strait is not US territory. It lies between Iran and Oman and connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman. Trump provided no legal basis for his assertion.

His comments followed repeated claims that US forces had established control over shipping in the waterway during the nearly six-month conflict with Iran.

Speaking earlier about the situation, Trump said the United States had “total control” of the region surrounding the strait. The US has maintained a naval blockade on Iran, while Tehran and Washington have made competing claims about their ability to control traffic through the waterway.

Iran has rejected Trump's assertions. Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi has dismissed his territorial claims as “delusions” and said the strait would be opened only under Iranian authority.

The waterway remains central to both the military confrontation and its economic consequences. Before the conflict began in February, about a fifth of globally traded oil passed through the Strait of Hormuz, according to Reuters. Two ceasefire agreements announced by Washington and Tehran, in April and June, were intended in part to restore shipping but both collapsed.

Trump also suggested Washington was not convinced Iran was ready to accept what he regarded as an appropriate agreement. His administration has alternated between threats of further military action and economic pressure as negotiations have stalled.

The latest remarks came as Washington prepared what Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has called “the toughest sanctions in history” against Iran.

Bessent said the measures would be detailed at a press conference on Monday and suggested an intensified economic campaign could reduce the need for another large-scale US military operation.

“It is a one-two punch. We have the blockade, and we are going to have the toughest sanctions in history,” Bessent told CNBC. He said the administration intended to use the measures to “collapse this regime”.

Trump had previously threatened economic consequences for countries providing what he called “any type of lifeline to Iran”.

Tehran has condemned the planned measures. Iran's foreign ministry has described US sanctions as “economic terrorism”, while parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said Iran needed to develop plans to overcome what he called “unjust sanctions”.

Major General Ali Abdollahi, chief of staff of Iran's armed forces, also threatened what Iranian media described as a broad military response to new US threats, saying Iranian forces were prepared across land, sea, air, air defence and cyberspace.

Bessent is expected to announce details of the new US sanctions on Monday.