„POTUS (the US president) is absolutely right. Whoever ensures the safe and reliable passage of commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz should be rewarded for this service. Iran has always been the GUARDIAN of this strait and will remain so FOREVER. 20 percent, of course, is too much. We will act fairly,“ wrote the head of Tehran’s diplomacy on social networks.
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The US president earlier on Monday promised to tax all cargo passing through the Strait of Hormuz to cover the costs of keeping the strait, which would remain open, “safe and secure,” and also to renew the blockade of Iranian ships.
„The Strait of Hormuz is OPEN,“ he wrote on his platform Truth Social. „We are renewing the IRAN BLOCKADE, so called because it only prevents Iranian ships or clients from entering or leaving.“
He added that the United States “will be compensated – 20 percent of the value of all transported cargo – for all expenses necessary to ensure safety and security” in this strait.
Earlier on Monday, D. Trump stated that the United States is “taking over” the Strait of Hormuz – a strategic waterway, the battles over which could derail efforts to permanently end the war in the Middle East.
„We are taking over the strait. They have nothing. They have nothing,“ D. Trump said in an interview on Fox and Friends, where he also complained about the tactics of Iranian negotiators and claimed they were trying to change what was agreed “yesterday” during negotiations that lasted more than an hour.
D. Trump also stated that the United States will be paid for protecting the Strait of Hormuz.
„We will become the guardians of the strait,“ D. Trump said on Fox News and added that the United States has been guarding the strait “for free” until now, but now wealthy countries will reimburse them for the costs.
„We will be paid for its protection. A lot of money, but we just want to be compensated for doing all this, for putting our people in danger,“ he added.
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Meanwhile, the Iranian military warned on Monday that it will not allow the United States to “interfere” in the management of the Strait of Hormuz.
A representative of Iran’s central military command “Khatam al-Anbiya” said in a video message that Tehran “under no circumstances will allow (…) the United States to interfere in the (Strait of Hormuz) management,” and warned the countries of the Persian Gulf region that any cooperation with the US will be considered an “act of war.”
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard in turn accused the United States of threatening global oil and gas supplies by interfering in the strategic situation of the Strait of Hormuz.
Guard representative Hossein Mohebi stated that Washington “has seriously threatened the security of global oil and gas supplies and must be held accountable.”
In his post on the social network X, he added that Tehran “will continue to exercise sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz and govern it.”
Meanwhile, the US military announced that the United States will begin applying a renewed blockade of Iranian ports on Tuesday at 20:00 Greenwich Mean Time (23:00 Lithuanian time).
US forces “will again begin blocking maritime traffic entering and leaving Iranian ports at 4 p.m. Eastern Time on July 14,” the US Central Command said in a statement on Monday.
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