President Donald Trump announced Monday on Truth Social that the United States military is officially reinstating its naval blockade of Iranian ports and taking operational control of the Strait of Hormuz, forcing all transiting cargo to pay a 20% security fee.
The presidential declaration introduces a direct financial and military countermeasure to the spiraling maritime conflict.
“The Hormuz Strait is OPEN, and will remain OPEN, with or without Iran,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “We are reinstating THE IRANIAN BLOCKADE, so named because it is only stopping Iran’s ships or customers from entering or leaving. All other countries will have fair and open use of the Strait.”
Trump further stated that the US would henceforth be “known as ‘THE GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT,'” adding that “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. The process and formation will begin immediately.”
Speaking separately in media interviews, Trump stated that the US was “going to keep the Strait, and we’ll probably run it,” noting that other nations have “made all the money” while the US guarded it for free for decades. Referring to the military actions, he stated, “we hit them very hard last night… We have them on the run.”
The policy shift comes immediately after a massive wave of US military airstrikes hit dozens of Iranian military targets for a second consecutive night. According to reports from Iranian state media, the latest American bombardments expanded well beyond the initial coastal zones bordering the waterway.
The semi-official Tasnim news outlet reported that three separate locations on the outskirts of the southwestern city of Abadan were struck around 1:45 p.m. local time Monday, quoting a Khuzestan Province official who stated that “at least two people have been reported dead and three wounded.” The semi-official Mehr News Agency also confirmed that loud explosions echoed near the southern city of Bandar Abbas and Qeshm Island around midday.
The rapid escalation has severely damaged backchannel diplomacy. Iranian officials stated that the US is actively “undermining talks with Oman on ensuring safe passage through the strait.”
The weekend’s heavy combat threatens to permanently break a fragile, pre-existing agreement between Washington and Tehran, just as both nations approach the halfway mark of a strict 60-day window allocated to negotiate a formal deal.
As news of the expanded strikes and Tehran’s subsequent declaration closing the Strait of Hormuz spread to global markets, energy sectors reacted instantly. Both Brent crude and US crude prices jumped by more than 3% on Monday morning due to mounting fears of a prolonged blockade in the vital energy shipping corridor.
The violence quickly rippled across neighboring nations, putting US allies on high alert. Emergency sirens pierced the air in Bahrain, while military command centers in Kuwait announced they were actively dealing with “hostile aerial targets.” To the west, Jordan’s military confirmed its air defenses had intercepted four separate missiles, which Amman explicitly stated were launched by Iran.
Simultaneously, a secondary front intensified south in Yemen. The Houthi-aligned Almasirah media outlet claimed that Saudi warplanes carried out a series of heavy raids on the capital city’s main runway, reporting that “Saudi aggression targets Sanaa International Airport with multiple Airstrikes.”
While Saudi Arabian officials maintained silence regarding the allegation, the Defense Ministry of Yemen’s internationally recognized government stepped forward to claim responsibility for the action. The ministry issued a statement declaring that its “patience had run out,” and that the military “would confront and deal with hostile aircraft that violate Yemeni airspace.”
This internal Yemeni escalation follows accusations made by the government last week claiming Iran had flown a transport plane directly to Houthi territory packed with military personnel, security forces, and specialized Iranian experts in drone and missile-system development. Friction has steadily built over direct Tehran-to-Sanaa flights and the ongoing Saudi blockade of Houthi-controlled northern territories.
Following the controversial Iranian flight last week, Hizam al-Asad, a member of the Houthis’ political bureau, issued a direct warning regarding the airspace dispute, stating that “civilian flights between Sana’a and Tehran will continue, even if this requires paralyzing the operations of all airports in Saudi Arabia.”
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