U.S. President Donald Trump, on Friday, in a discussion with reporters at the White House, referring to the formation of new energy transfer routes to reduce dependence on the region’s waterways, said: “They supply 50% of their oil from the Strait of Hormuz, but pipelines are currently being built. The route through Syria, which is superb, is under construction and, in fact, open, and people are traveling through Syria with huge trucks carrying oil.”

Trump, emphasizing that “many alternatives are being built and the Strait of Hormuz will no longer be what it was in the past,” warned: “If the leaders of Iran do not act really intelligently—though I don’t know whether they have that ability or not—they will ultimately face a Strait of Hormuz that will no longer be so necessary and important.”