Trump says the US will be the “guardian of the Strait of Hormuz” and restores the blockade on Iran.
The president Trump said On Monday the US will be the “guardian” of the Strait of Hormuz and suggested that other countries will pay the US for protecting it.
“The USA will be, from this point forward, known as the 'GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT,' but because of that, and as a matter of FAIRNESS, it will be reimbursed, at the rate of 20% of all goods shipped, for any costs necessary to carry out the work of providing safety and security in this very tense section of the World,” he said. “Planning and formation will begin immediately.”
He also said that the US is restoring its embargo on Iranian ports and ships, adding that the embargo “is called that because it only prevents Iranian ships or customers from entering or leaving.”
“All other countries will use the Strait in a fair and open manner,” he added, adding that it would remain open “even without Iran.”
The president told Fox News earlier Monday that the US “will keep the strait, and we will probably run it. We will be the guardian of the strait. Maybe we will call it the 'Guardian Angel of the Strait.' And we should be paid back for that.”
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He did not say which countries he expected to pay under the plan, but he did say that Persian Gulf energy producers should.
“If we do that, we will get money back because other nations are very rich, they are on our side and we will not be expected to do that for them,” he said.
He also said that the US had “been vigilant for 50 years, more, and we never got paid,” saying other nations “made all the money.”
“We were guarding nothing, now we will guard it,” he said. “We will earn by guarding it, a lot of money.”
The Strait was open to all shipping before the US and Israel launched their joint war on Iran in Feb. 28. Maritime traffic through the strait has been greatly reduced since then, and the US-Iran conflict over control of the vital waterway has hampered efforts to reach a lasting peace agreement in the conflict.
Iran has argued that the terms are vague memorandum of understanding signed by the US and Iran in mid-June gave it the right to control shipping at the port, and opposed calls by the US government and military for ships to use the southern route near Oman, which President Trump has insisted is open.
Iran's ambassador to the UK, in a statement on Monday, accused the US of “doing nothing but violate” the agreement “from day one,” particularly by “pushing ships into the dangerous southern route” through the strait, near the coast of Oman. It called that “not only legally questionable but also unsafe, unreliable, and prone to accidents.”
Iran attacked several ships trying to use that southern route last week, and on Saturday it hit a container ship near the western entrance to the Strait, prompting the US to launch several rounds of airstrikes on Iranian targets.
Later on Monday, Iran's Persian Gulf Strait Authority announced on social media that, “due to the recent brutal actions of the American military, passing through the Strait of Hormuz is not possible at this time.”
“As soon as stability and calm have been restored, all requests will be reviewed in accordance with the planned timeline, and the approval process will start again,” the PGSA added, reminding the ships that from Iran's point of view, “the only way to get permission to pass” to pass through the strait is through its website.
The proposal of Mr. Trump on Monday that the US should be “paid for patrolling” the strait came after weeks of condemning Washington over Tehran's proposals that in the future it would charge commercial ships “fees” to pass.
