In a major escalation that threatens to disrupt global energy markets, United States President Donald Trump announced Monday that the U.S is officially reinstating its military blockade of Iranian ports.
Trump also unveiled a plan to declare the U.S the “Guardian of the Hormuz Strait,” imposing a 20% security fee on all commercial cargo passing through the vital maritime chokepoint.
Pan-Atlantic Kompass reports that the announcement of a U.S blockade of Iranian ports follows a series of Iranian attacks on commercial vessels on July 6 and 7, which effectively dissolved the fragile June ceasefire agreement that temporarily paused the war.
Writing on Truth Social on Monday morning, Trump declared that the U.S military would immediately resume naval interdiction operations.
“The Hormuz Strait is OPEN, and will remain OPEN, with or without Iran. 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,” he said in a post on Truth Social.
Trump repeated that the U.S would be the “guardian” of the Strait of Hormuz and would charge commercial shippers 20% of the value of their cargo to compensate the US for securing the strait.
“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, atfor any and allte of 20% on all cargo shipped, for any costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security to this very volatile section of the World,” he said.
In a follow-up, the U.S Central Command (CENTCOM) quickly clarified the operational parameters, noting that the blockade will focus strictly on traffic heading to and from Iranian coastal zones.
The move mirrors an earlier blockade of Iranian ports after Iran blocked the Strait of Hormuz.
This development comes after the ceasefire agreement between the U.S and Iran has emerged in a fragile state after the two countries exchanged strikes on the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend.
Trump had also declared that the “ceasefire is over”, however reports have it that negotiations between the two countries are still ongoing.
