TEHRAN -- In yet another bout of delusional rhetoric, U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday laid claim to the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway entirely within Iran's territorial sovereignty.

Sharing an image of the strait on his social media platform, Trump bizarrely declared it "new U.S. territory."

This outlandish assertion is not an isolated incident but part of a broader, recurring pattern of "performative imperialism" that has come to define his political persona.

Trump's claim on the Strait of Hormuz is characteristic of his trademark "expansionist" fantasy, which conveniently ignores international law and the sovereign rights of other nations.

His long list of territorial ambitions reads like a delusional shopping list. From his repeated, bizarre suggestions to purchase Greenland from Denmark—a territory he claims is vital for U.S. "economic security"—to his threats to use "economic force" to absorb Canada into the United States, Trump has consistently demonstrated a disregard for established borders.

His obsession with renaming geographical features is another facet of this syndrome. He has signed executive orders to unilaterally change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the "Gulf of America," a move met with derision and rejection by Mexico and the international community.

He has also floated the idea of renaming the Strait of Hormuz to "Trump Strait," a move that is both monumentally arrogant and legally meaningless. As one analysis noted, "map-making" is a trivial act for Trump, regardless of global opinion.

Trump's latest claim on the Strait of Hormuz is arguably his most dangerous and unrealistic yet. The strait is not just any waterway; it is a vital artery for global energy supplies and lies within Iran's territorial waters.

Experts have pointed out that the strait "cannot be taken by a tweet, an aircraft carrier, an order, or a speech". Even his own advisers have reportedly dismissed such comments as "jokes," highlighting the unserious and erratic nature of his pronouncements.

Despite this, Trump has persisted, framing his desire to control the strait as the "spoils of war" after his claimed, yet unsubstantiated, victory over Iran. He has even suggested that the U.S., not Iran, should collect "tolls" from ships passing through the strait.

These statements are a transparent attempt to mask his administration's failure to secure the strait's reopening after months of war, seeking to save face with preposterous claims of ownership.

The Iranian leadership has met Trump's delusional rhetoric with swift and unequivocal condemnation. Parliament Speaker and top nuclear negotiator Muhammad Bagher Ghalibaf reiterated that Iran will not reopen the strait until its conditions from the Islamabad agreement, including the lifting of the blockade, the release of frozen assets, the removal of oil sanctions, and an end to military threats, are fully met.

Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi also delivered a sharp rebuke, noting that while Trump had correctly spelled the name of the "Persian Gulf," his illusion regarding the Strait of Hormuz would soon be corrected.  

Trump's claim over the Strait of Hormuz is a symptom of a deeply flawed and reckless approach to foreign policy. It is a fantasy born of a "victor's spoils" mentality that has no basis in international law, geopolitics, or reality.

His chronic pattern of making outlandish territorial claims—from Greenland to the Gulf of Mexico, and now to the Strait of Hormuz—reveals a dangerous imperialist nostalgia that has no place in the 21st century.

The world watches as the U.S. president indulges in these delusions of grandeur, while Iran stands firm, ready to defend its sovereign territory against such eccentric and baseless threats.