Washington will “become the guardian” of the Strait of Hormuz for a 20 percent fee, sez Trump.
Iran said on Saturday it has once again shut the Strait of Hormuz to traffic. The US has maintained it remains open.
“Iran does not control the strait. Traffic is flowing,” US Central Command wrote early on Sunday.
US launches new wave of strikes against Iran, aimed at ‘degrading’ military
Sunday’s attacks follow three previous days of tit-for-tat strikes between Iran and US as a June ceasefire deal frays.
- US forces are “positioned and prepared” to ensure freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz despite “Iranian aggression”, CENTCOM says.
- Iran claims attacks on Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and Oman with missiles and suicide drones as fears rise of a return to full-scale war in the Middle East.
- The US military says it struck more than 140 targets in Iran with explosions reported in the southern port cities of Bandar Abbas, Sirik, Chabahar, Bandar-e Deyr, Jask and Asaluyeh
- The hostilities come after Iran’s Revolutionary Guard declared the Strait of Hormuz “closed until further notice” and said it fired at a ship attempting to transit through what it called an unapproved route.
Gulf tensions rise as Iran strikes Qatar, disrupting mediation efforts
Iran hit Kuwait and Bahrain following US attacks while avoiding Qatar since early April.
Sunday’s attack on Qatar targeted a state whose mediation efforts have been central to attempts to broker a ceasefire between the US and Iran.
In Tehran, life for more than 10 million people has carried on mostly as usual since the capital has not been recently attacked. But the economy is in the doldrums and the outlook is increasingly uncertain, more than four months after the US and Israel began their aerial campaign.
Here’s the latest:
- The UAE says two of its national tankers were hit by Iranian cruise missiles, as India summons Iran’s deputy ambassador after an Indian crew member was killed and several others were wounded in the attacks.
- The US has carried out more strikes on Iran, with Iranian media reporting explosions on Kish and Qeshm islands, as well as Bushehr and Bandar Abbas.
- Iran says it attacked US military sites in Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan and two oil supertankers in the Strait of Hormuz.
- US President Donald Trump says a US blockade will be reinstated on Iranian ports in the coming hours, and Washington will “become the guardian” of the Strait of Hormuz for a 20 percent fee.
Hormuz cargo fee ‘would be fundamentally wrong’: Hapag-Lloyd
Charging fees for passage through international waters “would be fundamentally wrong”, German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd says.
China urges US and Iran to restore safe passage through Hormuz
China called on the United States and Iran to restore safe passage through the crucial Strait of Hormuz after fighting reignited over how the strategic waterway should be managed.