United States (U.S.) President Donald Trump has announced an imposition of the 20 percent toll on ships transiting through the Strait of Hormuz while reinstating the Iranian blockade over the key oil trade route in renewed escalation between the two countries.
In a post on Truth Social, the 47th POTUS announced that the U.S. will be taking on a new role as “The Guarding of the Hormuz Strait.”
The 80-year-old American president described the oil choke hold as a “very volatile section of the world,” adding the U.S. will get 20% fee on all the cargo shipped “for any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security.”
Trump said the strait was open and all countries will have a fair and open use of it.
This comes after the two countries renewed attacks on each other, despite reaching an interim 60-day ceasefire on June 17, 2026. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has declared the Strait of Hormuz to be closed again for commercial shipping.
Both sides have accused each other of breaking the deal. In an interview with Fox News on Monday, the U.S. president said, “We had a deal. It was a done deal, and they broke it. They always break it.”
Speaker of the Parliament of Iran, Mohammed Baqer Qalibaf expressed similar sentiment via a post on X. He wrote, “The era of one-sided deals is OVER. We told you: keep your word or pay the price. Reality is knocking.”
Oil prices have already taken a hit from the recent wave of escalation as the Brent crude price jumped by more than 4 percent on Monday.
2026-07-13 20:59:00
