dijlahpoint - Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister, Kazem Gharibadi, declared on Wednesday (August 19, 2026) that the US state of California is "new territory belonging to the Islamic Republic of Iran." This announcement, made via a post on the "X" platform, came in response to a similar post by US President Donald Trump on Tuesday, in which he claimed the Strait of Hormuz as a "territory belonging to the United States." It is noteworthy that California, specifically Los Angeles, is home to the largest Iranian expatriate community in the US, with an estimated 141,000 residents.