President Trump reversed plans to slap hefty fees on commercial ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz, but the Iran conflict intensified Tuesday as the U.S. reimposed a naval blockade and Tehran launched more attacks on Persian Gulf countries.
In a social media post, Mr. Trump wrote that the strait is open to all commercial shipping except for Iran, citing what he called the regime’s “lying, violent, malicious leadership.”
He said U.S. Central Command, which oversees American military operations in the Middle East, would reinstate a naval blockade of Iran’s ports at 4 p.m. Tuesday. The U.S. had operated a blockade on Iran for weeks before the June 17 signing of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, which required Washington to halt it.
The U.S. initially imposed the blockade in response to Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which devastated international energy markets and drove up prices worldwide.
The blockade turned away any ships trying to enter or leave Iranian ports, likely cutting into Iran’s oil revenue.
It also left commercial ships unable to transit the strait connecting the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman without risking attack by Iranian drones, small boats or missiles.
On Monday, Mr. Trump floated a plan to impose fees of at least 20% of a vessel’s cargo value on any commercial ship transiting the strait, framing it as compensation for U.S. protection in the waterway.
He backed off that plan Tuesday. Instead, he said he wants the U.S. to be reimbursed for its security efforts through investment deals from Gulf nations that stand to benefit from a reopened strait.
“Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I have decided to replace the 20% United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Those Investments will be MASSIVE but, at the same time, extraordinarily good for them, and their future.”
Mr. Trump’s original fee plan would have directly contradicted stated U.S. policy. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President J.D. Vance have insisted that no country can charge fees for passage through international waters.
Mr. Trump reversed that plan after the U.S. launched a third straight night of strikes on Iran. CENTCOM said the bombing was intended to degrade Iran’s ability to attack civilian mariners and disrupt commercial ships freely transiting the strait.
Iranian state media reported several explosions in the country’s southern provinces, notably near Bushehr, home to Iran’s only civilian nuclear power plant.
Iran launched retaliatory strikes against U.S. assets in the region and targeted at least two ships trying to transit the strait via Omani waters. Kuwait’s military said its forces were actively intercepting “hostile aerial targets” from Iran, and Iran’s military said it struck U.S. facilities in Bahrain and Jordan.
Iranian officials continued to insist that the U.S. must respect Iran’s sovereignty over the strait if it wants shipping to return to prewar levels. Iranian army spokesman Brig. Gen. Mohammad Akraminia, quoted by state-affiliated media, said Iran’s conditions for reopening the strait were strict adherence to the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding and recognition that Iran will retain control of the waterway. He added that Washington’s attempt to route shipping through Omani waters amounted to an “alternative route” that violated the memorandum’s terms.
Gen. Akraminia warned that the strait, through which 20% of the world’s oil travels each year, would not reopen under “U.S. aggression or pressure.”
Iran kept the strait effectively closed for nearly four months, using sea mines and small boats, before signing the memorandum that set up the ceasefire and reopened the waterway to commercial shipping. Over the past week, Iran ramped up attacks on commercial vessels, insisting they travel only through Iranian-controlled waters and cooperate with its military. These attacks led to the collapse of the ceasefire and the memorandum of understanding itself.
The memorandum does not grant Iran sovereignty over the strait, but it requires Iran to use its best efforts to ensure safe, fee-free passage of commercial vessels for 60 days between the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman. It also requires Iran to negotiate with Oman to “define the future administration and maritime services in the strait.”
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