President Donald Trump announced Monday that the United States is reinstating a naval blockade targeting Iranian shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, escalating the standoff between Washington and Tehran over one of the world's busiest maritime routes.
In a Truth Social post, Trump said commercial traffic from other countries would continue to move freely through the strait while Iranian ships and their customers would be blocked.
“The Hormuz Strait is OPEN, and will remain OPEN, with or without Iran,” Trump wrote. “We are reinstating the 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 added, saying the United States would be known as “the Guardian of the Hormuz Strait.”
Trump also said the U.S. should be compensated for providing security in the region, announcing a proposed 20% reimbursement on all cargo passing through the strategic waterway.
“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,” Trump wrote. “The process and formation will begin immediately.”
Earlier Monday, Trump also said the U.S. would remain in control of the waterway, saying America would be keeping the strait and "we'll probably run it."
Iran quickly pushed back, insisting the Strait of Hormuz belongs to Iran and saying it "will not allow a rogue and child-killing army from the other side of the world to continue its illegal interference in it," according to The Associated Press.
The exchange comes after U.S. Central Command said Sunday it had "completed a new wave of offensive strikes against Iran," hitting "dozens of targets at multiple locations with precision munitions to degrade Iran's ability to continue attacking international shipping flowing through the Strait of Hormuz."
The renewed U.S. strikes followed Iran's attack on a container ship in the strait last week, further raising tensions in the region.
