As relations between the United States and Iran become tense again, President Donald Trump says the United States will reinstate its naval blockade against Iran and “become the guardian” of the Strait of Hormuz.
President Trump added that the United States will impose a 20% toll on ships passing through the strait.
Let’s take a closer look at President Trump’s remarks and what this means for ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
What did Trump say?
President Trump revealed his plans for the Strait of Hormuz in an interview with Fox News and a post on his Truth Social platform on Monday.
“We are reinstating the Iranian blockade, so named, because it only prevents Iranian ships and customers from entering and exiting,” Trump tweeted.
Later, the US Navy-led Joint Maritime Information Center added that the blockade would begin at 20:00 GMT on Tuesday.
“From now on, the United States will be known as the ‘Guardian of the Strait of Hormuz,'” Trump added. “But for that reason, and as a matter of fairness, any costs necessary to carry out the work that provides safety and security in this highly volatile region of the world will be reimbursed at a rate of 20% of all cargo transported.”
“The process and formation will begin immediately,” he said.
But Andreas Krieg, a senior lecturer at King’s College London’s School of Security Studies, told Al Jazeera that Trump’s latest comments “look more like an ad hoc political statement than a developed policy.”
“This reflects President Trump’s instinct to prove that he still has influence and options, even though Washington’s room for maneuver has narrowed significantly,” Krieg said. “The problem is that this proposal misunderstands what the dispute over the Strait of Hormuz has become. It is no longer primarily about generating revenue. It is a question of authority and prestige and who sets the rules for the Gulf’s most important waterway.”
Will Trump’s proposal work?
Krieg said he doesn’t think a 20% U.S.-controlled toll would actually work.
He explained that Washington “has no legal mechanism to impose fees on international shipping through the straits and has no physical control over the waterways.”
“More importantly, the introduction of a toll by the United States would inadvertently legitimize Iran’s own claims that passage through Hormuz can be legally monetized. The United States has spent weeks insisting that freedom of navigation is a principle of international law,” Krieg said.
“If the government suddenly starts talking about charging for access itself, it will strengthen Tehran’s argument that control of Hormuz comes with the right to charge, while at the same time weakening its own legal and political position.”
What does this mean for ships attempting to pass through the Strait?
Krieg explained that commercial shipping companies will comply with anyone who could have a real impact on their ability to sail safely.
“They are not choosing between American tolls and Iranian demands for commercial reasons. They are making risk calculations based on insurance, security and business continuity,” he explained.
He added: “If Iran maintains its coercive control over the straits, shipping companies will adapt to that reality, no matter what the U.S. government announces from the White House.”
Before the war, most of the commercial traffic in the Strait of Hormuz followed established shipping routes through roughly the center of the strait.
Ships now face tough choices. If it moves closer to the Omani side of the strait, it risks being attacked by Iran, and if it cooperates with Iran and approaches Iranian territorial waters, it risks being accused of violating President Trump’s blockade and could face a U.S. attack.
Krieg said Trump’s proposal would create more uncertainty for ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
“Shipping companies are already facing conflicting guidance from insurance companies, naval authorities and local governments,” he said. “Adding a politically driven US fee proposal without an internationally recognized enforcement mechanism would create further legal and commercial ambiguity. Markets dislike uncertainty far more than they dislike predictable costs.”
What does international law say about waterway tolls?
Arsenio Dominguez, secretary-general of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the United Nations’ shipping agency, told Al Jazeera in April that the introduction of tolls on waterways violates international law.
“Countries have no right to introduce tolls, payments or fees in these straits,” Dominguez said.
“The introduction of any tolls violates international law,” he said.
The IMO said in a statement on Monday that it opposes imposing any fees to navigate the strait.
“We have always been consistent in our stance on tolls. IMO firmly opposes imposing tolls on passage through straits used for international navigation,” the agency said.
“There is no legal basis for introducing compulsory tolls just for crossing the strait.”
In June, President Trump’s Secretary of State and National Security Adviser Marco Rubio rejected the idea of countries imposing tolls on international waterways.
“No country is allowed to charge tolls or fees on international waterways. That is current international law,” Rubio said at the time, referring to the possibility of Iran imposing tolls.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Monday described Trump’s plan as “an act of piracy.”
“President Trump tweeted that he would lift the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz,” Lula said at an event in Sao Paulo. “But oil owners have to pay 20 percent per ship. Previously this was considered piracy.”
What is your background?
President Trump’s new blockade comes after a week of hostilities between the United States and Iran that undermined peace talks.
The United States launched an attack on Iran last week, accusing it of violating terms agreed upon during negotiations regarding the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) subsequently launched several waves of retaliatory attacks against US military facilities in the Gulf and Jordan.
Krieg said the deeper issue is strategic.
“Every time the United States improvises a new idea publicly without first building an international consensus, it reinforces the perception in Tehran that the United States has exhausted its military options and is seeking influence.
“This encourages the Revolutionary Guards to hold their ground rather than compromise. Ironically, such proposals make it more difficult, not easier, to persuade Iran to back down from its increasingly assertive posture in the Straits.”
