Key facts
- President Donald Trump announced the U.S. is reinstating a blockade on Iranian shipping.
- The U.S. will charge a 20% fee for passage through the Strait of Hormuz.
- Two oil tankers were struck in the Strait of Hormuz, resulting in one fatality and eight injuries.
- The U.S. military conducted a third consecutive night of strikes against Iran.
- Iran's Revolutionary Guards claimed responsibility for attacks on U.S. military facilities in multiple Gulf countries.
President Donald Trump announced the U.S. is reinstating a blockade on Iranian shipping and will charge a 20% fee for passage through the Strait of Hormuz, escalating tensions in the region. This declaration followed a third consecutive night of U.S. military strikes against Iran and attacks on two oil tankers in the strategic waterway, which resulted in one fatality and eight injuries.
U.S. Central Command stated that strikes began at Trump's direction, with the president indicating Iran would be hit "very hard." The UAE Ministry of Defense reported that Iranian cruise missiles struck the oil tankers Mombasa and Al Bahiyah in Omani territorial waters. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency also reported a tanker hit by an unknown projectile.
Trump declared on Truth Social that the U.S. would act as "THE GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT" and would be reimbursed at a 20% rate on all cargo shipped. Iran's top military command asserted that the U.S. has no authority to determine the strait's future. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi responded that Tehran would remain the guardian of the strait and that 20% was "too much."
Iranian media reported explosions in several port cities and islands following the U.S. strikes. Iran's state TV cited the army as saying it targeted a "hostile" U.S. vessel and facilities in Kuwait, and the Revolutionary Guard claimed to have shot down a U.S. drone over Hormuz. Bahrain reported its air defense systems intercepted Iranian missile and drone attacks.
The U.N.'s shipping agency opposed Trump's proposal, stating there is no legal basis for mandatory tolls on strait transits. Before the conflict, approximately one-fifth of the world's oil and gas traffic passed through Hormuz daily. The U.S. Navy-led Joint Maritime Information Center indicated the blockade would take effect Tuesday and apply to all vessel traffic, with exceptions for neutral transit and humanitarian shipments subject to inspection.
Oil prices surged over 9% on Monday, with Brent futures and U.S. crude futures reaching their highest levels since June. The conflict, which has killed thousands, has destabilized the gulf and spread across the region.