President Trump on Monday decided to reimpose a blockade on Iranian ships and take control of the Strait of Hormuz, moving the countries closer to all-out war a month after the sides negotiated a path to peace.
Mr. Trump ordered the takeover after losing patience with Iranian officials who stalled negotiations and fired on commercial vessels.
“The Hormuz Strait is OPEN, and will remain OPEN, with or without Iran,” Mr. Trump said on social media. “We are reinstating 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.”
Mr. Trump is effectively reimposing a maritime blockade that squeezed the Iranian regime earlier this year. Notably, he said that foreign ships using the strait should pay the U.S. 20% of all cargo shipped through the strait.
“We’ll become the guardian of the strait,” he said on the “Fox and Friends” program. “We should be reimbursed for that.”
The strait was open to commercial traffic before Mr. Trump, in coordination with Israel, launched strikes Feb. 28 to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
SEE ALSO: U.S. says latest strikes hurt Iran’s ability to attack vessels in Strait of Hormuz
Iran clamped down on the strait in retaliation, causing energy shortfalls and price shocks.
Mr. Trump’s push to charge fees conflicts with comments from administration officials who said charging tolls is anathema to international rules.
“It’s an international waterway. No country is allowed to charge tolls or fees on an international waterway,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last month. “That’s existing international law.”
The International Maritime Organization on Monday “reaffirmed that passage through the Strait [of Hormuz] should remain free of any tolls and charges.”
U.S. Central Command said the blockade is scheduled to take effect Tuesday at 4 p.m. Eastern.
Mr. Trump’s crackdown is a marked departure from the mid-June memorandum of understanding that U.S. and Iranian leaders struck to pause fighting and negotiate a final-stage peace deal.
SEE ALSO: Trump reimposes Iran blockade and U.S. will control Strait of Hormuz
Tit-for-tat strikes between Iran and U.S. forces have eroded recent progress in reopening the Strait of Hormuz and knocked peace talks off course.
“They basically break deals. To them, deals are made to be broken. They are extremely unreliable people,” Mr. Trump told radio host Hugh Hewitt on Monday. “We’re going to hit them very hard tonight. We’re going to hit them hard tomorrow. And there is nothing they can do about it.”
Mr. Trump formally notified Congress on Monday that fighting with Iran had restarted. The move will inflame Democratic criticism that he is waging war unlawfully and that Capitol Hill must step in.
Mr. Trump announced he would deliver a speech to the nation at 9 p.m. Thursday, but he did not say whether it was related to Iran.
The U.S. military said it used precise munitions to hit dozens of targets in Iran late Sunday, degrading Tehran’s ability to attack international shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
“The Strait of Hormuz is a vital maritime corridor for global trade. Iran does not control it,” CENTCOM said.
The command said it struck Iranian military air defense systems and coastal radar sites, plus missile and drone capabilities.
Unmanned surface vessels struck the port at Bandar Abbas Naval Base. It was the first time American forces used sea drones in combat operations, according to the command.
Iran lashed out at American partners in the Persian Gulf region on Monday. Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain reported incoming missiles that had to be intercepted.
CENTCOM said it began a third wave of attacks at 4:45 p.m. Eastern on Monday.
“We’re taking out all of their capability for anything having to do with the strait, the Hormuz strait, and I think in the end we will end up just controlling the whole thing,” Mr. Trump said Monday in the Oval Office. “What they’re doing is being very foolish, very stupid.”
Tehran says it must maintain some control over the waterway.
“Whoever provides secure and safe passage of commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz should be compensated for this service. Iran has always been the GUARDIAN of the Strait and will remain so FOREVER,” Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said on social media. “20% is, of course, too much. We will be fair.”
The upheaval rattled markets. Brent crude prices surged to $80 per barrel — up from roughly $70 last week — while U.S. stock indexes slid into negative territory.
The average U.S. gasoline price stood at $3.87 per gallon on Monday, a 7-cent increase from a week ago and up from about $3 per gallon when the war began, according to the AAA motor club.
Democrats on the Joint Economic Committee on Monday said Americans have spent an aggregate of over $56 billion more, or $447 per household, on gas than they would have if Mr. Trump had not started the war with Iran.
“As President Trump declares that he’s ended his ceasefire with Iran, gas costs have already started rising again, at a time when Americans continue to face the squeeze of higher costs overall from Trump’s war, tariffs, and other actions,” said Sen. Maggie Hassan, New Hampshire Democrat.
Mr. Trump insists the U.S. has the upper hand through its military might and will win the conflict with Tehran, one way or another.
“They’re not pushing us around. We’re pushing them around,” Mr. Trump said at a White House event Monday.
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