US President Donald Trump has announced plans to reimpose a blockade on Iran in the Strait of Hormuz. He asserts that the United States will assume responsibility for the security of the Strait and collect fees from ships for safe passage.
However, Iran immediately rejected Trump’s announcement. Trump made this declaration on Monday amidst an exchange of missile and drone attacks between the two nations.
In a telephone interview with Fox News today, Trump said, “We will control the Strait of Hormuz. We will likely manage it as well. We will be the guardians of the Strait. We ought to be paid for this.”
Trump stated that the United States should be paid “a lot of money” for performing this duty, arguing that the nations utilizing this waterway are wealthy and should not expect this service from the US for free.
Shortly thereafter, in a post on his own social media platform, Truth Social, Trump announced that the US is reimposing a blockade against Iran in the Strait of Hormuz. He wrote that the United States would be known as the “guardian of the Strait of Hormuz.” To cover security costs, a 20 percent fee would be collected from every cargo ship passing through the Strait. He stated that the process of implementing this measure would begin immediately.
Trump also alleged that Iran had violated an interim agreement. According to him, “A deal had been reached, but they broke it. They always break deals. We have had ten agreements with them. So, this time, we will strike them very hard.”
Responding to Trump’s remarks, Ebrahim Zolfaghari, spokesperson for the Central Command of the Iranian Armed Forces, stated that the United States could have no role in the management of the Strait of Hormuz. He warned that any form of cooperation with the US or the provision of supplies to their forces would be considered an act of war against Iran’s sovereignty, potentially plunging the entire region into conflict.
Iran had announced the closure of the Strait of Hormuz yesterday, Sunday. Subsequently, on Monday, the confrontation between the two countries intensified. A fresh conflict erupted between the United States and Iran around the middle of last week, centering on attacks against commercial vessels.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed today to have attacked US military installations in Bahrain and Kuwait. Meanwhile, the United States announced that it had launched new strikes against several military targets in southern Iran, including air defense systems, coastal radar, and missile and drone capabilities.
Although the interim agreement signed in mid-last month called for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and the implementation of a ceasefire, the future of that agreement has now become uncertain due to the recent clashes.
