Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar received public praise from US President Donald Trump on Friday after Iran declared the Strait of Hormuz open to commercial shipping — a development that also prompted the president to turn his sharpest words yet on NATO.
Trump posted separately to his Truth Social account, “Thank you to Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Qatar for your great bravery and help!” The acknowledgment came amid a flurry of posts marking what Trump called a breakthrough in the standoff over the critical waterway. During Operation Epic Fury, Iran had launched retaliatory attacks across the Gulf, including against Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar.
The backdrop to Trump’s gratitude was Iran’s formal announcement that the passage was being reopened. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated on X: “In line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage for all commercial vessels through Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire, on the coordinated route as already announced by Ports and Maritime Organisation of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
Trump verified the development but drew a clear line on what remained in place. “THE NAVAL BLOCKADE WILL REMAIN IN FULL FORCE AND EFFECT AS IT PERTAINS TO IRAN, ONLY, UNTIL SUCH TIME AS OUR TRANSACTION WITH IRAN IS 100% COMPLETE,” he said, adding that negotiations “SHOULD GO VERY QUICKLY IN THAT MOST OF THE POINTS ARE ALREADY NEGOTIATED.”
It was also the occasion for a pointed rebuke of the Western alliance. Trump wrote: “Now that the Hormuz Strait situation is over, I received a call from NATO asking if we would need some help. I TOLD THEM TO STAY AWAY, UNLESS THEY JUST WANT TO LOAD UP THEIR SHIPS WITH OIL. They were useless when needed, a paper tiger!” At a later speech to a Turning Point Action crowd in Arizona, Trump again attacked NATO over its refusal to join the US-Israel campaign against Iran, telling the crowd NATO was “absolutely useless when we needed them.”
Pakistan, too, received specific recognition from the president. Trump posted: “Thank you to Pakistan and its Great Prime Minister and Field Marshall, two fantastic people!!!” — noting that Pakistan had played a key role in peace negotiations, hosting talks between Vice President JD Vance and an Iranian delegation in Islamabad the previous weekend.
The economic stakes surrounding the waterway had been significant throughout the crisis. As a conduit for roughly 20 percent of the world’s crude oil and liquefied natural gas, the disruption to the strait had rippled across supply chains and energy prices globally. Markets responded sharply to the reopening announcement — stocks surged while oil prices fell 12 percent, though shipping companies said outstanding questions still needed to be resolved.
Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf pushed back on Trump’s framing of events. He said Trump “made 7 claims in one hour, all 7 of which are false,” and criticized the use of social media to determine the status of the strait, writing: “Whether the strait is open or closed, and the rules governing it, are determined in the field, not by social media.”
