United States President Donald Trump has pledged there will be no tolls for passage through the Strait of Hormuz, unless they are collected by his own country.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s statement, made in a Saturday afternoon post<\/a> on Truth Social, is the latest sign that a recently signed memorandum of understanding (MOU) may be unravelling.<\/p>\n Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list<\/p>\n \u201cThere will be NO TOLLS in the Hormuz Strait for 60 days during the Cease Fire Period, and there will be NO TOLLS after the 60 day period has expired,\u201d Trump wrote, \u201cunless they are imposed by and for the United States of America.\u201d<\/p>\n Since the US and Israel launched a war against Iran on February 28, Iran has successfully used the Strait of Hormuz as a pressure point, closing the strategic waterway to traffic.<\/p>\n But under the terms of Wednesday\u2019s ceasefire memorandum, the strait is supposed to reopen for an interim period of 60 days. During that time, Iran is barred from charging vessels for passage.<\/p>\n On Saturday, however, Iran\u2019s joint military command said it had closed the Strait of Hormuz, citing a \u201cclear breach\u201d of the memorandum\u2019s commitments.<\/p>\n US Central Command (CENTCOM), the agency that oversees military operations in the region, denied that report and maintained that the traffic continues to flow through the waterway.<\/p>\n The Strait of Hormuz has long been a flashpoint in the conflict between the US and Iran. Nearly 20 percent of the world\u2019s oil and natural gas is transported through the strait, as well as about 30 percent of the global fertiliser trade.<\/p>\n Closure of the strait has caused global fuel costs to soar and has tested agricultural sectors across the world.<\/p>\n Trump had responded to Iran\u2019s chokehold over the strait by imposing a US naval blockade on Iran\u2019s ports in the region.<\/p>\n But that naval blockade was lifted under the terms of Wednesday\u2019s memorandum. The deal also paused fighting on all fronts in the regional conflict, including in Lebanon.<\/p>\n The memorandum, though, was not intended as a long-term deal. It serves as a launching point for negotiations on key issues, including the future of Iran\u2019s nuclear programme.<\/p>\n Several points of divergence also went unaddressed in the memorandum. Nowhere does the memo say that future tolls cannot be collected from the strait after the 60-day period expires.<\/p>\n Before the war, there was no charge for passage through the strait. Trump himself said in an interview with The New York Times that the waterway should remain \u201cpermanently toll-free\u201d.<\/p>\n But he appeared to reverse course in Saturday\u2019s post, once again floating the possibility that the US could extract tolls in the strait, while barring Iran from doing so.<\/p>\n No fees should be levied, Trump wrote, \u201cunless they are imposed by and for the United States of America, should the deal not be completed\u201d.<\/p>\n He explained that such a charge would compensate the US \u201cfor services rendered as the Guardian Angel to the countries of the Middle East for purposes of both past, present, and future reimbursement of costs\u201d.<\/p>\n Trump used similar language in his New York Times interview earlier this week, floating the US becoming \u201cthe guardian of the Middle East\u201d in exchange for 20 percent of its revenue.<\/p>\n Saturday\u2019s post is not the first time Trump has mused about the US imposing tolls in the strait, either.<\/p>\n In April, for instance, he discussed the idea<\/a> with reporters, saying, \u201cWhat about us charging tolls? I\u2019d rather do that than let them have them. Why shouldn\u2019t we? We\u2019re the winner. We won.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n There has been no indication that Trump\u2019s plans have been officially presented to countries in the region, many of whom have struck a careful balance in their dealings with both the US and Iran during the war.<\/p>\n Iranian officials, meanwhile, have repeatedly said they will not rule out imposing tolls in the strait, framing the issue as a matter of sovereignty and regional negotiation. The strait sits between Iran and Oman.<\/p>\n Further discussions are expected on the matter in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n But such negotiations have been thrown into jeopardy<\/a> amid ongoing Israeli military operations in Lebanon, which threaten to violate Wednesday\u2019s ceasefire memorandum.<\/p>\n Iran claimed that Saturday\u2019s closure of the strait was a result of new Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon, which killed dozens of people<\/a> after the ceasefire was announced.<\/p>\n Iranian officials have also said that any upcoming talks should focus on proper implementation of the initial memorandum, and that the 60-day negotiating period stipulated in Wednesday\u2019s deal would begin after that was settled.<\/p>\n Pakistan, a top mediator between the US and Iran, has said that follow-up talks are set to begin in Switzerland on Sunday.<\/p>\n