Home · World · Jul 13 archive
U.S. president Donald Trump announces that the naval blockade will resume beginning tomorrow and announces a 20% fee on ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
Confirmed
Mon, Aug 31, 2026 | Rabi al-Awwal 18, 1448 | Fajr 04:40 | DXB 32.3 °C US President Donald Trump said he is "reinstating" the Iranian blockade, and charging 20 per cent fees on all cargo shipped through the Strait of Hormuz.
“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, at the rate of 20% on all cargo shipped, for any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security to this very volatile section of the World,” Trump said in a Truth Social post on Monday.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi took a swipe at Trump, saying he was "absolutely right" that whoever provides secure and safe passage of commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz should be compensated for this service However, he said "Iran has always been the GUARDIAN of the Strait and will remain so FOREVER. 20% is of course too much.
On the same day, the IRGC said the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until further notice and will only reopen once US military involvement in the region ends, as reported by Iran's state news agency IRNA. Early Sunday, the Pentagon said it had struck Iran after the IRGC fired on a Cyprus-registered container ship they said was sailing an "unauthorised route" through the Strait of Hormuz.
When the Memorandum of Understanding between US and Iran was signed on June 15, it included a clause to eventually lift the US naval blockade. A few days after the signing of the peace deal, he said there will be no tolls in Hormuz during the 60-day ceasefire and after it unless imposed by and for the US.
Those fees were effectively tolls, according to James Kraska, a professor of international maritime law at the US Naval War College. That option would comply with international law, according to Kraska, because it’s being imposed voluntarily, where shippers could decide whether they want to pay for protection or not, as opposed to a fee that determines if cargo can transit.
As a general rule of thumb, shippers pay carriers 2%-3% of the value of their goods in fees, according to McCown, former CEO of shipping logistics company Trailer Bridge. Dues were also assessed on declared cargo value,” said Bjorn Vang Jensen, executive industry adviser at Xeneta, a freight analytics platform.
In any event, the fee will likely be high enough that no party is willing to pay it, McCown said. A fee around 10 times the size would likely be entirely unaffordable to shippers, he said.
Background
The Strait of Hormuz is a waterway between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. On the north coast lies Iran, and on the south coast lies the Musandam Peninsula under the Musandam Governorate of Oman, with a portion of the southwest of the peninsula under the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Wikipedia — Strait of Hormuz (CC BY-SA)
What's confirmed
- “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, at the rate of 20% on all cargo shipped, for any and all costs…
- Mon, Aug 31, 2026 | Rabi al-Awwal 18, 1448 | Fajr 04:40 | DXB 32.3 °C US President Donald Trump said he is "reinstating" the Iranian blockade, and charging 20 per cent fees on all cargo shipped through the Strait of Horm
- Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi took a swipe at Trump, saying he was "absolutely right" that whoever provides secure and safe passage of commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz should be compensated for th
- On the same day, the IRGC said the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until further notice and will only reopen once US military involvement in the region ends, as reported by Iran's state news agency IRNA.
- When the Memorandum of Understanding between US and Iran was signed on June 15, it included a clause to eventually lift the US naval blockade.
- Those fees were effectively tolls, according to James Kraska, a professor of international maritime law at the US Naval War College.
What's still developing
- Mon, Aug 31, 2026 | Rabi al-Awwal 18, 1448 | Fajr 04:40 | DXB 32.3 °C US President Donald Trump said he is "reinstating" the Iranian blockade, and charging 20 per cent fees on all cargo shipped through the Strait of…
- When the Memorandum of Understanding between US and Iran was signed on June 15, it included a clause to eventually lift the US naval blockade.
- Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi took a swipe at Trump, saying he was "absolutely right" that whoever provides secure and safe passage of commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz should be compensated…
- Early Sunday, the Pentagon said it had struck Iran after the IRGC fired on a Cyprus-registered container ship they said was sailing an "unauthorised route" through the Strait of Hormuz.
- On the same day, the IRGC said the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until further notice and will only reopen once US military involvement in the region ends, as reported by Iran's state news agency IRNA.
- A few days after the signing of the peace deal, he said there will be no tolls in Hormuz during the 60-day ceasefire and after it unless imposed by and for the US.
- In any event, the fee will likely be high enough that no party is willing to pay it, McCown said.
- As a general rule of thumb, shippers pay carriers 2%-3% of the value of their goods in fees, according to McCown, former CEO of shipping logistics company Trailer Bridge.