President Donald Trump said on Monday that the U.S. will take control of the Strait of Hormuz and reinstate its naval blockade against Iran.
“The Hormuz Strait is OPEN, and will remain OPEN, with or without Iran,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “We are reinstating THE IRANIAN BLOCKADE.”
The U.S. could charge foreign ships for safe passage, the president suggested. The announcement comes as Iran ramped up attacks and tried to take over the waterway days following the burial of Ayatullah Khamenei.
“All other countries will have fair and open use of the Strait. The U.S.A. will be, from this point forward, known as ‘THE GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT,’ but as such, and as a matter of FAIRNESS, will be reimbursed, at the rate of 20% on all cargo shipped, for any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security to this very volatile section of the World,” he added.
Ahead of the announcement, the President floated the idea of imposing a transit fee on shipping in a phone interview with “Fox & Friends,” Reuters reported:
“We’re going to keep the strait, and we’ll probably run it. We’ll become the guardian of the strait. Maybe we’ll call it the guardian angel of the strait. And we should be reimbursed for that,” he told the “Fox & Friends” program.Control of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for global oil supplies, has become one of the main battlegrounds of the conflict. Iran’s effective blockade of the strait has pushed up energy prices and increased concerns about inflation globally.”We’re going to be reimbursed, because the other nations are very wealthy. They’re on our side, and we can’t be expected to do that for nothing,” he said. (…)”We had a deal. It was a done deal, and then they broke it. They always break it. We’ve had 10 deals with these people, and so we’re just going to hit them very hard,” Trump said.
Following President Trump’s announcement, Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed that it “will enforce the blockade against vessels transiting to or from Iranian ports and coastal areas.”
The U.S. was facilitating the passage of cargo ships and oil tankers through the strait. “The U.S. military continues to support traffic flow through regional waters for all vessels not violating the blockade,” CENTCOM assured.
This is the second U.S. blockade of Iranian ports since the war began. The first, ordered President Trump in mid-April, lasted over nine weeks.
The U.S. armed forces continued retaliatory strikes against Iran, destroying its naval, drone, and missile capabilities that posed a threat to the waterway.
The U.S. was going to step up strikes against the regime, President Trump indicted. “We’re going to hit them very hard tonight and we’re going to hit them hard tomorrow — and there’s not a damn thing they can do about it,” he said.
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