President Donald Trump said the U.S. will reinstate its naval blockade on Iranian ports and insinuated the country would collect a 20 percent reimbursement fee on all cargo shipped through the Strait of Hormuz after tensions surrounding the conflict-ridden waterway escalated over the weekend.
In a Monday morning social media post, President Trump asserted that the strait was open “and will remain OPEN, with or without Iran.”
The comments followed U.S. military strikes on Iranian targets Monday morning, which ensued after an exchange of attacks by both parties over the weekend.
The back-and-forth has placed the future of the U.S.-Iran framework agreement to end their war in doubt after various vessels traversing the channel were attacked by Iranian forces. Those attacks prodded Trump into saying the ceasefire between the two countries was “over” at last week’s NATO Summit in Turkey.
The interim 14-point memorandum of understanding, signed in mid-June, had called for the Strait of Hormuz to remain open for toll-free shipping for 60 days.
“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 percent 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,” said Trump.
The president said the blockade’s process and formation will begin immediately, noting that 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,” said Trump.
A notice from the U.S. Navy-led Joint Maritime Information Center sought to clarify these claims, saying the blockade will apply to all vessel traffic, regardless of flag, for ships attempting to stop at the Iranian coastline. The advisory indicated that enforcement of the blockade would start Tuesday at 11:30 p.m. local time.
Trump’s post followed an interview he held with Fox News earlier that morning where he first floated the idea of being the strait’s “guardian,” suggesting “we’re going to keep the strait, and we’ll probably run it…And we should be reimbursed for that.”
The White House has not provided additional details on Trump’s plan, including how it would be administered or whether it had been communicated to other U.S. allies in the Gulf.
Under UN law, it is illegal for any individual country to suspend or inhibit transit passage throughout international waters or charge any tolls on foreign ships under any circumstances.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio cited the UN law last month, saying “no country is allowed to charge tolls or fees on an international waterway.”
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had imposed its own de facto “toll booth” for vessels to pass through the Hormuz ahead of the ceasefire, but attempts at formalization from the country’s officials have seemingly never come to fruition.
Nevertheless, media reports have suggested that Iranian officials and those from U.S. regional ally Oman have joint plans to collect payment for vessels transiting the strait.
The recent hostilities have appeared to spook shipping from traveling through the chokepoint again.
According to data from ship tracking intelligence firm MarineTraffic, confirmed crossings through the monitored Strait of Hormuz zone fell by around 52 percent from the week prior during the July 10-12 period. Fifty-seven total transits were recorded across the weekend, with only 14 passing through on Sunday.
Directionally, flows skewed west-east at 31 crossings, while commercial traffic accounted for 37 of the total.
Routing reverted to a more defensive pattern, the company noted, with crossings almost evenly split between the Iranian-preferred route and the “dark/unknown route” where vessels turn off their AIS transponders. Routes closer to the Omani shoreline that have been approved by the International Maritime Organization have seen almost no activity.
“This marks a return to earlier crisis-period routing behavior and suggests operators are increasingly avoiding the internationally supported corridors after the latest security deterioration,” said Ana Subasic, trade risk analyst at MarineTraffic in a Monday update.
Prior to the start of the war on Feb. 28, commercial vessels were free to traverse the Hormuz strait unimpeded.
The IRGC said in a statement on Monday that the only way to restore regular shipping traffic through the strait was to end U.S. military interventions in the waterway, and warned that “continued interference could lead to greater incidents in the global oil and gas sector.”
The forces’ continued attempts to restrict traffic through the Strait of Hormuz since the start of the war have led to spikes in oil prices, pushing up fuel costs worldwide and ultimately leading to higher freight rates for ocean- and airborne cargo.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures increased more than 8 percent on Monday after the countries traded strikes.
