Trump Renames Hormuz; Iran Says ‘Terrible’ Mistake | Vantage on Firstpost | N18G | 4K

Added: 2026-05-07

[00:00:00]It's day 62 of the US-Iran war and 17 days since the US started blocking Iran's ports. US President Donald Trump is already calling it genius. In his words, it is foolproof and nobody is going to play games.

[00:00:15]The president for now is reportedly digging into a strategy to inflict as much economic pain on Iran as possible in hopes of forcing Iran back to the negotiating table.

[00:00:27]Now, peace talks between the United States and Iran have remained stalled.

[00:00:31]Trump says there will be no deal unless Iran promises no nukes. He also says negotiations with Iran are continuing through phone calls.

[00:00:41]I don't know. It depends. We have talks.

[00:00:43]We're having talks right now and we're not flying anymore with 18-hour flights every time we want to see a piece of paper. We're doing it telephonically and it's very nice. I make a phone call or I have my people make a call and you know the answer. It I always like face-to-face.

[00:01:02]Iran, for its part, is not keeping quiet. The country's supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, said that America is the cause of instability in the region.

[00:01:10]He said Iran will secure the Gulf and put an end to the quote-unquote enemies' violations. He mentioned what he called a new management in Hormuz, adding that this will benefit the region. Meanwhile, the country's president says that Trump's blockade is doomed to fail. Iran also issued a warning. It says it will soon deploy a new weapon right next to the enemy but declined to reveal the weapon or provide any more details on this.

[00:01:37]This was followed by a pointed remark and I'm quoting here, "Hope they won't have a heart attack."

[00:01:44]At the center of it all is the Strait of Hormuz. Let me remind you that the US blockade of Iranian ports has been in place for 17 days. It was announced as retaliation for Iran's blockade of the strait, critical for carrying around 1/5 of the world's oil and gas. And since the blockade started, the US has intercepted 42 ships, according to the US CENTCOM. That's 69 million barrels of oil worth over $6 billion that Iran simply could not sell.

[00:02:15]Trump has reportedly said that the blockade is choking like stuffed pig and has refused to lift it.

[00:02:23]The strategy is deliberate, maximum economic pain.

[00:02:27]Now, here's where it gets very Trump. The Strait of Hormuz has now got a new name or at least that's what Trump would want us to call it. He posted this modified map on Truth Social, renaming the Strait of Hormuz as the Strait of Trump. So, there it is.

[00:02:46]Another place Trump wants his name tattooed on.

[00:02:49]First, it was the Kennedy Center, then came the battleships, Palm Beach Airport, coins, passports, and now it's a waterway that sits 12,000 km away from the United States.

[00:03:02]Trump's renaming, of course, didn't sit well with Iran. Its foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said calling Hormuz anything else is a terrible mistake.

[00:03:11]The dual blockade of the strait has already impacted shipping.

[00:03:15]Before the war started, around 60 vessels used to cross the strait daily on an average.

[00:03:21]The average has now come down to just six.

[00:03:24]That's a 90% decline. When shipping stalls, it impacts the amount of oil and gas the world receives. There's a direct impact on energy output and as a result, oil prices have been soaring.

[00:03:36]Today, oil prices soared more than 7% touching a 4-year high.

[00:03:40]Brent crude reached a peak of $126 a barrel before falling to around $110 a barrel.

[00:03:48]So, Washington is now scrambling to build an international coalition to secure this critical choke point, something called the Maritime Freedom Construct to reopen the Strait of commercial shipping to commercial shipping.

[00:04:02]According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, US embassies were asked to press allies by the 1st of May to join this alliance. This list includes the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.

[00:04:22]Sounds like déjà vu?

[00:04:24]Because this is not the first time the United States has asked for help to reopen the waterway.

[00:04:29]Earlier, European nations had already rejected Trump's appeal for help.

[00:04:34]That led to Trump calling the alliance foolish.

[00:04:37]So, I think NATO's making a very foolish mistake and I I've long said that, you know, I wonder whether or not NATO would ever be there for us. So, this is a this was a great test cuz we don't need them, but they should have been there.

[00:04:53]Germany is now preparing for US troop production, acting on Trump's threat after Chancellor Merkel publicly criticized the Iran war. Merkel tried to walk back on it yesterday, insisting the relationship remains intact. But it seems the damage is done because Trump has taken another jibe.

[00:05:11]He said the German Chancellor should fix his broken country first before interfering in other matters.

[00:05:18]Trump is reportedly said to be briefed by the US Army on new military plans for Iran.

[00:05:24]Let me break down the options one by one. First, the US CENTCOM has prepared a short and powerful wave of strikes, likely targeting infrastructure to break the negotiating deadlock.

[00:05:34]Second, there's a plan to seize part of Hormuz itself, potentially involving ground forces.

[00:05:41]And the final one is a special forces operation to secure Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which brings us to the nuclear question.

[00:05:50]Iran currently holds an estimated 440 kg of uranium enriched to 60%, dangerously close to weapons grade.

[00:05:59]The US wants it gone.

[00:06:02]Iran says it's for civilian use only.

[00:06:05]And now, UN nuclear chief Rafael Grossi says most of that uranium is likely still at the Isfahan site, which is situated in central Iran.

[00:06:16]Why does it matter?

[00:06:18]Because this is the same site Trump claimed US strikes destroyed in 2025.

[00:06:24]The nuclear body hasn't been able to inspect it since those attacks.

[00:06:28]They're relying on satellite images.

[00:06:31]So, the uranium is still there.

[00:06:33]The inspectors are locked out and nobody knows exactly what Iran has or where.

[00:06:39]Until my inspectors can go and verify that there is no access, we we cannot confirm that this is the situation. We have been told that this is the case.

[00:06:47]So, there are lots of things. We tried last year with the Cairo agreement to pave the way for a return of the inspectors there, but of course, with a new war episode is this is still delayed.

[00:07:02]So, here's the bottom line. With no progress in peace talks, the Strait of Hormuz or as Trump would like to call it, the Strait of Trump, has become the defining pressure point of this standoff.

[00:07:13]Oil is surging, shipping has collapsed, military options are being drawn up, and 440 kg of near weapons grade uranium likely sits at a site nobody has inspected since last year.

[00:07:26]Trump says the blockade could last months.

[00:07:29]Iran hasn't blinked yet.

[00:07:31]So, we have two nations, one strait, and the entire world paying at the pump.

[00:07:37]The world moves fast, power shifts, unexpected developments, changing alliances. Every day brings a new headline. [music] But headlines are only the beginning because behind every story, there is context. There are consequences and there are questions worth asking.

[00:08:00]Find the answers, understand the story, take on the world.

[00:08:06]This is Him Kaur Saroya for Firstpost Vantage.