The U.S. had until now said the strait should remain open to all without tolls, as it was before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28.
The latest exchange of fire, sparked by an Iranian attack on a container ship, had already cast further doubt on the interim peace deal reached last month. Washington lifted a blockade it imposed in mid-April as part of that deal, which also called for the strait to be fully reopened.
“We are reinstating the THE IRANIAN BLOCKADE,” Trump said on social media. “All other countries will have fair and open use of the Strait.”
The president said the U.S. would be “reimbursed” by 20% of the value of cargo to help cover “any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security.”
Iran asserts it has the right to manage traffic through the strait and potentially charge fees in accordance with the interim peace deal. It has vowed to fight back against any U.S. interference.
The struggle over the strait is escalating
A fifth of the world’s oil and gas passed through the strait before Iran effectively shut it down at the start of the war, driving up global prices of energy, fertilizer and other goods. Traffic had picked up after last month's agreement but remained well below prewar levels.
The American military has tried to establish a route through the strait along the coast of Oman that would be outside of Iranian control. Iran has attacked ships using that route, saying the U.S. is violating the interim peace deal. The U.S. has attacked Iran in response and ended waivers allowing Iran to sell crude oil on the open market in U.S. dollars.
Iran and the U.S. are nearly halfway through the 60-day period in which they were supposed to negotiate a permanent end to the war and an agreement on Iran’s disputed nuclear program.
The U.S. military said it struck dozens of sites on Monday in response to the Iranian attack on the container ship the day before, including air defense systems, radar sites, missile and drone equipment, and small boats. It said Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz.
Mohammed Mokhber, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, wrote that Tehran would fight for the strait.
“We defend it so that in the future, for the passage of our ships, we are not forced to pay tribute to the enemy!” he wrote on X.
The European Union’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, called for the strait to be open, as it was before the war. “Freedom of navigation has to be respected,” she said.
Traffic through the Oman route dropped over the weekend “to minimal levels, indicating that operators continue to prioritize perceived security over more direct transit options,” the ship-tracking website MarineTraffic.com said.
