US President Donald Trump today announced that Washington is reinstating its naval blockade on Iran and will prevent ships from entering or leaving Iranian ports, marking a major escalation in the standoff between the two countries.
Trump also claimed that Washington would be compensated by a charge of 20 per cent on all cargo for securing commercial shipping through the waterway. However, details of how such a system would operate remain unclear.
The move marks yet another blow to the US-Iran memorandum of understanding (MoU), which Trump declared “over” last week after Iran’s IRGC paramilitary force resumed attacks on commercial vessels.
Following talks with regional mediators on Saturday, the IRGC launched another attack on a ship and declared the Strait of Hormuz “closed until further notice”, leading to US strikes on Iranian targets in the region.
Announcing the decision on Truth Social, Trump said the US would maintain access to the strategic waterway regardless of Iran’s stance on the matter.
“The Hormuz Strait is OPEN, and will remain OPEN, with or without Iran. We are reinstating the Iranian Blockade, so named because it is only stopping Iran’s ships or customers from entering or leaving. All other countries will have fair and open use of the Strait,” he wrote.
Trump also said the US would assume a formal role overseeing security in the waterway.
“We will be, from this point forward, known as ‘The Guardian of the Hormuz Strait’,” he asserted.
In exchange for providing security, Trump proposed that the US would receive compensation.
He said Washington should be “reimbursed, at the rate of 20 per cent on all cargo shipped” through the Strait, adding that “the process and formation will begin immediately”.
The announcement raises questions about how such a fee would be implemented and whether major Gulf energy exporters and shipping companies would accept the proposal.
A senior Gulf source told Axios that Washington is yet to discuss the issue of potential transit charges with regional allies before Trump’s announcement.
