Donald Trump says he has reinstated a US blockade on Iran in the Strait of Hormuz and will bill ships for safe passage, days after fresh strikes and an Iranian attack on a vessel in the waterway.
After a third consecutive night of strikes on Iran, Trump has floated a tolling scheme in the Strait of Hormuz that he says could raise nearly $200 billion a year. The war is becoming a US-run chokepoint that reprices global energy trade and puts every Gulf-dependent ally on notice.
President Trump said the US will 'keep' and 'probably run' the Strait of Hormuz after overnight airstrikes on Iran, turning a weekend exchange of fire into an open contest over the passage that carries a large share of the world's seaborne oil.
Six US soldiers died in a drone strike on Kuwait's Port Shuaiba as the United States bombed targets inside Iran and Tehran closed the Strait of Hormuz again — a conflict now grounding Gulf aviation and rattling global markets.
Washington hit Iran with fresh strikes and reimposed oil sanctions after attacks on three ships near the Strait of Hormuz, moves that recouple U.S. security policy and allied energy supply.