Iran live updates: Trump says he'll declare Strait of Hormuz a US territory

Iran's deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, Kazem Gharibabadi, posted a response on social media to President Donald Trump's statement that the Strait of Hormuz would be declared a U.S. territory after Iran is defeated.

"The Strait of Hormuz cannot be seized by tweet, nor by aircraft carrier, nor by issuing an order, nor by an election speech. Iran neither fears threats nor cowers before displays of power," he said.

He added that, "the Strait of Hormuz has been Iranian, is Iranian, and will remain Iranian; this strait will only be closed and opened under Iran's command, and as long as you do not accept the reality of defeat and cease your fanciful delusions, Iran will continue to enforce the blockade."

-ABC News' Victoria Beaule

President Donald Trump said Friday he'd soon be "declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States" in remarks touting U.S. strength amid the Iran war.

Speaking at an event in Nassau, New York, on Friday mostly focused on crime and the economy, Trump said: "And after we finish defeating Iran, which is being very badly defeated... Pretty soon I'll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States."

Trump several times highlighted the naval blockade the U.S. is enforcing in the Strait of Hormuz, which was reinstated in July and marked the collapse of a memorandum of understanding between the two countries pausing hostilities following mutual accusations of violations.

"No ships get through unless we want them to," Trump said, adding: "Our military is unbelievable. The blockade is unstoppable. It's a wall of steel. The blockade is a wall of steel."

Regarding the economic impact of the war, Trump pitched the audience on paying a bit more for gas so that Iran would not be a threat.

"So remember that when you have to pay a little bit more," Trump said. You're at $4. It's OK."

-ABC News' Nicholas Kerr and Isabella Murray

Israel Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Israel will not withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon, a key sticking point in negotiations between the U.S. and Iran over a peace agreement.

"We, as the Prime Minister and I have made unequivocally clear, are not withdrawing from this security zone," Katz said on Wednesday.

Katz said the Israel Defense Forces will remain where they are and "will not move from here."

"We will clear this area and ensure the security of the residents of the north, and under no circumstances will we withdraw from security zones, not in Lebanon, not in Syria, and not in Gaza," Katz said.

"The lesson of October 7 is that we protect our residents by having the IDF present herein these places. It protects them from raids, gunfire, and all other things. This is our policy, this is our doctrine, and this Beaufort fortress illustrates better than anything else the meaning of that policy," Katz said.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps reiterated that no ships are allowed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz without Iran's permission in a statement Thursday.

"The false claims of the United States that ships are passing through the Strait of Hormuz normally, which indicate the desperation and helplessness of that country's army, are nothing more than lies," IRGC Spokesman Ebrahim Zolfaghari said.

"It is announced that the Strait of Hormuz, as in the past, is under the complete management and control of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and no commercial ship or tanker will be able to safely transit through this strait without the permission and supervision of the powerful Iranian armed forces," Zolfaghari said.