between "full control" and stopped ships; What do Trump's new statements about Hormuz show?

Donald Trump said in his office on Monday that declaring the Strait of Hormuz as US territory is a "good idea" and added that Washington has "full control" of this waterway with a naval blockade. (CBS News) The comments came on the day a 60-day deadline for the June memorandum expired without an agreement. The most important point of these statements is the distance between the claim of control and the field situation. Marine tracking data showed only 13 ships had passed through the strait by the end of the week, (NBC News), and less than a day after those statements, another ship was targeted on the same route. In military literature, what creates a blockade is the "power to deter and block," not the "power to secure passage." The two are not the same: one party can obstruct the traffic of others without being able to secure the ships. The statement of the US Secretary of Energy at the same time, who called the strait still a "conflict zone", practically reflects the same division within the US government. The second axis is the threat to Oman. A Fox News reporter quoted on Monday that Trump said in a phone conversation that if Oman "gets in the way" it will be bombed; The audio file of this conversation was not released and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (NBC News) Trump took a softer tone in his response to reporters hours later, saying Oman's behavior was "not good" but "easily" manageable. (CBS News) This difference in tone between an mediated quote and a recorded comment is itself data that is often lost in the rush of reposting. From a diplomatic point of view, the key point is that Oman has played a mediating role for the past months. At the same time, Iran has announced that it has reached an understanding with Oman on a plan for the passage of ships, and the two sides are finalizing the details of a joint statement. (FOX 8) Pressure on the mediator, in the situation where the channel of direct negotiation is practically not opened, has the cost of removing the only active path of dialogue. The third axis is legal. The Strait of Hormuz is located between the territorial waters of Iran and Oman, and its legal regime is based on right