Trump says US to resume naval blockade of Iran's ports
President Donald Trump countered Iran's attempts to collect tolls on shipping via the Strait of Hormuz by announcing the US would do so at a rate of 20% for all cargo transiting the waterway.
WASHINGTON — The US military will resume its blockade of Iran's seaports, President Donald Trump wrote on social media on Monday, following a series of tit-for-tat strikes after Iran repeatedly fired on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
What happened: "We are reinstating THE IRANIAN BLOCKADE, so named because it is only stopping Iran's ships or customers from entering or leaving," Trump wrote on Truth Social on Monday. "All other countries will have fair and open use of the Strait."
Trump further added that the US "will be reimbursed 20% on all cargo shipped, for any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security to this volatile section of the world."
A spokesperson for US Central Command did not immediately return Al-Monitor’s request to confirm the military will resume its blockade.
Earlier on Monday, Trump told a Fox News morning show that the US may “keep” the Strait of Hormuz, adding, “We’ll probably run it.”
“When we do that, 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, unlike we had for many years,” Trump said, adding, "We guarded the strait for 50 years, and we never got paid for it."
Background: The June 17 memorandum of understanding with Iran stipulates that Iran and Oman would convene to discuss management of the strait along with "other Persian Gulf littoral states."
The Trump administration has warned Iran not to charge tolls for ships transiting the strait, a demand that the June MoU only precludes for the first 60 days after signing.
Under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, states cannot obstruct transit through international straits or charge fees for passage.
Neither the US nor Iran have ratified UNCLOS, but the US typically treats it as customary international law. Last month, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called Iran’s attempts to collect tolls “illegal.”
Tankers have repeatedly been targeted by Iranian drones while transiting the southerly route along the strait near Oman’s coast, where US military vessels and aircraft have been guiding shipping traffic.
Iran's IRGC has not claimed credit for the attacks but has warned that it cannot guarantee the safety of commercial vessels that do not use the route approved by Iranian authorities, which hugs Iran’s coast along the waterway.
Know more: The US launched an expanded round of airstrikes in Iran over the weekend, hitting sites “to degrade Iran’s ability to continue attacking international shipping flowing through the Strait of Hormuz,” CENTCOM said.
The targets included Iranian air-defense systems, coastal radar sites, ballistic missile and armed drone systems and small attack boats. US fighter jets, naval vessels, one-way attack drones and, for the first time, unmanned naval attack drones were used in the operation, CENTCOM said.
It was the fifth round of US military bombardment of Iranian territory since the ceasefire. Iran targeted Jordan, Bahrain and Kuwait with ballistic missiles overnight in retaliation for the attacks, threatening once again to reopen the multisided war.
On Monday, Trump told Fox News the US will continue to strike Iran if its attacks in Hormuz continue.
This developing story has been updated since initial publication.
