Trump says US reinstates blockade of Iranian shipping in Strait of Hormuz, orders new US strikes
By Elwely Elwelly, Tala Ramadan and Katharine Jackson
DUBAI/WASHINGTON, July 13 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Monday the United States was reinstating its blockade of Iranian shipping in the Gulf and would ensurethe Strait of Hormuz stays open — for a fee — while warning thatU.S. forces would hit Iran again "very hard" in the coming hours after the two sides exchanged missile and drone attacks.
The latest hostilities followed Iran's announcement at the weekend that it was closing the vital waterway, casting further doubt on an interim deal to halt the war and driving oil prices higher.
"The Hormuz Strait is OPEN, and will remain OPEN, with or without Iran. We are reinstating THE IRANIAN BLOCKADE," Trump said on Truth Social, adding that the U.S. would collect a 20% toll on all cargo shipped through the strategic strait"as a matter of FAIRNESS".
He predicted more U.S. strikes in an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.
"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," Trump said.
U.S. Central Command said it began a third consecutive night of strikes against Iran shortly after the broadcast, at Trump's direction. Iran's semi-official YJC news agency said early on Tuesday that seven explosions were heard in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas and two more on Kish Island.
Trump also threatened to strike Mount Kolang Gaz La, or Pickaxe Mountain, a heavily fortified site near Iran's damaged Natanz uranium enrichment facility. The site has two deeply buried tunnel complexes that experts say are beyond the reach of the most powerful bunker buster bombs in the U.S. arsenal.
"We're going to take out Pickaxe Mountain. Tell the Iranians to be ready," the president said on the Hugh Hewitt Show. "We'll probably give Pickaxe a shot relatively soon."
Iran's state TV cited the Iranian army as saying that it targeted a "hostile" U.S. vessel with cruise missiles and U.S. facilities and equipment in Kuwait with drones. Iranian media also said the Revolutionary Guards shot down a U.S. MQ-1 drone over Hormuz.
Iran's top joint military command said the U.S. had no role in determining the future of the waterwayand would not be allowed to intervene. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi wrote on X that Tehran was the guardian of the strait and would remain so "forever", adding in response to Trump's comments that: "20% is of course too much. We will be fair."
BLOCKADE BEGINS TUESDAY
The UN's shipping agency pushed back against Trump's proposal, saying it opposes any fees for straits used in international navigation and stressing that there is no legal basis for introducing mandatory tolls on strait transits.
Trump has previously suggested the U.S. could charge tolls on shipping through the strait, but has not done so and it remained unclear whether he would follow through this time.
The U.S. Navy-led Joint Maritime Information Center saidthe blockade would take effect at 2000 GMT on Tuesday and apply to all vessel traffic regardless of flag, covering the entire Iranian coastline including ports and oil terminals.
It said the measure would not impede neutral transit passage through the strait to or from non-Iranian destinations, and that humanitarian shipments would be permitted subject to inspection.
Before the conflict began in February, around a fifth of the world's oil and gas traffic passed through Hormuz daily, delivering more than 15 million barrels of fuel to global markets worth at least $1.2 billion. If the U.S. were to impose a 20% fee, it could generate around $250 million a day.
Iran has sought to establish a permanent fee and permit system of its own for vessels using the waterway.
Thousands of people have been killed in the war, mainly in Iran and Lebanon.
The U.S. Central Command said its forces struck a submarine and ship maintenance facility in Iran on Sunday using one-way attack drones. Iran's official news agency IRNA cited a local official on Monday as saying the U.S. had attacked military sites in Qeshm, Bandar Abbas and Abadan in southern and southwestern Iran. It confirmed the deaths of two people in the Abadan attack.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had targeted U.S. military facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait, destroyed radar systems in Oman and hit fuel tanks and ammunition depots at Prince Hassan Air Base in Jordan in response to U.S. strikes.
Bahrain said its air defence systems had intercepted several Iranian missile and drone attacks early on Monday.
OIL PRICES JUMP
The latest exchanges mark an escalation over the past week, throwing into question the interim U.S.-Iranian agreement signed last month to reopen the strait and halt hostilities.
The war, launched by the United States and Israel, has destabilised the Gulf and spread across the region, with Iran attacking U.S. bases in multiple countries.
Yemen's Houthi movement fired missiles at Saudi Arabia after accusing the kingdom of bombing an airport under its control on Monday, breaking a four-year truce between Riyadh and the Iran-aligned group.
Oil prices jumped more than 9% on Monday, with Brent futures posting their biggest single-day dollar gain since April 2, and highest settlement since June 12. U.S. crude futures made their largest daily gain since April 29 to settle at their highest since June 15.
Higher energy prices, particularly gasoline costs, are politically sensitive for Trump before midterm elections in November that will determine whether his Republican Party retains control of Congress.
U.S. officials said around 20 vessels had been escorted through the strait in the previous 24 hours, although ship-tracking data showed little traffic moving. MarineTraffic said on Monday that vessel activity through the strait declined by about 52% over July 10 to 12 compared to the previous week.
(Additional reporting by Menna Alaa El Din, Jonathan Saul, Enas Alashray, Ahmed Elimam, Eman Abouhassira and Andrew Mills, Writing by Ros Russell, Hugh Lawson, Matt Spetalnick and David Morgan; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan, Timothy Heritage and Sanjeev Miglani)
