Trump says US could charge for Strait of Hormuz passage amid Iran war
Al Jazeera
US president says Washington, as the ‘winner’ of the war, has a ‘concept’ for charging a toll in strategic waterway.
President Donald Trump has suggested the United States may be looking to charge a toll in the Strait of Hormuz after the war, a move that would likely require direct US military control over the strategic waterway.
Asked on Monday whether he would accept a deal that would allow Iran to take fees from ships to traverse the strait, the US president said: “What about us charging tolls? I’d rather do that than let them have them. Why shouldn’t we? We’re the winner. We won.”
Trump reiterated that Iran has been militarily defeated, a claim that he has been making since the early days of the war, despite Iran’s sustained drone and missile attacks across the region and its continuing blockade of Hormuz.
“The only thing they have is the psychology of, ‘Oh, we’re going to drop a couple of mines in the water.’ All right, no, I mean, we have a concept where we’ll charge tolls,” Trump told reporters.
Hormuz, which connects the Gulf to the Indian Ocean, lies mostly within Omani and Iranian territorial waters. About 20 percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) passed through the strait before the war.
Cairo streets and storefronts have been forced to go dark at night as part of measures to curb Egypt’s electricity use.
Libyan oil sector proxy wars occur during Hormuz tensions, creating dangerous supply vulnerabilities for global markets.
The Samir Project is offering children in Gaza a camp where they can learn, heal, and regain some sense of safety.
US President Trump threatens to destroy power plants, bridges by 8pm Tuesday if Iran doesn’t open the Strait of Hormuz.
Ukraine has increased attacks on Russian energy infrastructure in bid to disrupt financing of its war.
A look at the multimillion-dollar mega structures that could be threatened by Trump’s ‘Bridge Day’ ultimatum.
Ukraine aims to drain Russia’s war chest with drone strikes on Pokrovsk and Ust-Luga oil facilities on the Baltic Sea.
President Trump says US service member whose fighter jet was shot down over Iran is rescued during two raids.
US president says Washington armed Kurdish Iranian opposition groups during the January demonstrations. That lends credence to Iran’s claims that the protests were foreign-inspired.
If the chokepoint were shut, along with the Strait of Hormuz, a quarter of the world’s energy and a giant chunk of Asia’s exports to Europe would be blocked.
Madrid host Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich for the first leg of their blockbuster Champions League quarterfinal tie.
Iran, while still reviewing Islamabad’s proposal, has said that it won’t reopen Hormuz as part of a temporary ceasefire.
The Israeli military launches new attacks on Beirut, southern Lebanon as humanitarian crisis deepens.