Trump drops Hormuz ship toll plan as Gulf states offer US billions
Trump withdrew his plan to charge ships using the Strait of Hormuz after Gulf leaders offered US investment. The reversal eased immediate toll fears, but fresh strikes and tanker attacks kept the truce under severe strain.
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday withdrew a plan to charge ships using the Strait of Hormuz, saying Gulf countries would instead invest billions of dollars in the United States. His move came as fresh US strikes on Iran and Iranian attacks on shipping and American allies pushed an interim peace deal closer to collapse.
The renewed fighting has again put a key global energy route at risk, unsettled markets and led to warnings for commercial airlines. The deal had been meant to reopen the strait and buy negotiators time to reach a permanent settlement to the war, but exchanges of fire have continued almost halfway into the 60-day period set for talks.
On Monday, Trump said the US would reimpose a blockade on Iranian ports and begin charging ships fees equal to 20 per cent of their cargo to cover the cost of securing the strait. A day later, he stepped back from the fee plan, though the blockade is due to resume in the coming hours. Trump said he had received calls from "kings and emirs" and other leaders who suggested another arrangement. "They said we'd love to do it a different way. We'd love to invest in the United States with billions and billions of dollars," he told reporters in the Oval Office. He added that he preferred that option to charging tolls "because I don't think anybody should be able to charge a fee for the strait." It was not clear whether those investments would be new commitments beyond what Trump announced after a visit to the Middle East last year.
The Strait of Hormuz carries a major share of the world's energy trade. Before the war, about a fifth of all traded crude oil and natural gas moved through it without tolls. After the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, the passage was effectively shut as Iran attacked and threatened ships, sending the prices of oil, fertiliser and other goods sharply higher. Iran has more recently targeted ships using a route through the strait overseen by the US military and outside Tehran's control, triggering tit-for-tat strikes. The US has threatened to reopen the strait by force, though experts say that could require a much larger naval deployment, if not tens of thousands of ground troops.
The US military's Central Command said it struck several places in Iran, targeting "coastal defense systems, missile and drone sites and maritime capabilities". Iran acknowledged the attacks but gave no immediate assessment of casualties or damage. "These strikes will continue imposing a heavy cost on Iranian forces and degrade their ability to attack innocent civilians and commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz," the US military said. Iran then launched attacks targeting Kuwait, Jordan and three tankers that had travelled through the strait. In Bahrain, home to the US Navy's 5th Fleet, air raid sirens sounded four times on Tuesday and people were told to seek shelter.
Two of the targeted ships were linked to the United Arab Emirates and caught fire for some time. The International Maritime Organization said the attacks on the tankers Mombasa and Al Bahiyah killed two mariners and injured 14 others. The UAE threatened retaliation. Dutch firm Stolt Tankers said one of its vessels, the Stolt Magnesium, was also attacked off Oman, causing a fire in the engine room, though all mariners were safe. Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said the Mombasa and Al Bahiyah had "ignored repeated warnings". Hours after the US said it had ended its strike campaign, the Iranian city of Bushehr on the Persian Gulf was hit in at least four places, according to state-run IRNA. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency warned airlines against flying in the airspace of Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE, and over the Gulf of Oman.
The interim peace deal was already under strain before the latest attacks. It is now nearing the midpoint of the 60 days during which negotiators were supposed to reach a final agreement covering the war, Iran's disputed nuclear programme and other issues. Washington had lifted a blockade imposed in mid-April under the deal, but the US military said it would resume at midnight Wednesday in Dubai. Trump's now-withdrawn fee proposal would have marked a break with longstanding US policy and with recent assurances by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that the strait would remain open to all without tolls. Under the interim agreement, Iran had accepted free passage through the strait for 60 days, though the deal did not settle what would happen after that. Iran says it has the right to manage traffic through the waterway and possibly charge fees, a position the US disputes. Brent crude briefly rose above USD 87 a barrel early on Tuesday, below the nearly USD 120 reached at the height of the war, before falling to USD 78 after Trump's reversal.
Regional mediators are still trying to bring Washington and Tehran back to the table, according to two regional officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. They said Pakistan-led mediation was working around the clock to revive the ceasefire. At the same time, Lebanese and Israeli delegations were expected to meet in Rome on Tuesday for US-mediated talks. Hezbollah joined the conflict after the war began on February 28 in support of Iran, and Israel responded with a ground invasion of Lebanon. Last month, Lebanon and Israel announced a "framework agreement" for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon in exchange for Hezbollah's disarmament, but implementation has stalled. With the Strait of Hormuz again under threat, the peace deal weakening and talks continuing on multiple fronts, efforts to prevent a return to full-scale war remain under pressure.
With PTI Inputs
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday withdrew a plan to charge ships using the Strait of Hormuz, saying Gulf countries would instead invest billions of dollars in the United States. His move came as fresh US strikes on Iran and Iranian attacks on shipping and American allies pushed an interim peace deal closer to collapse.
The renewed fighting has again put a key global energy route at risk, unsettled markets and led to warnings for commercial airlines. The deal had been meant to reopen the strait and buy negotiators time to reach a permanent settlement to the war, but exchanges of fire have continued almost halfway into the 60-day period set for talks.
On Monday, Trump said the US would reimpose a blockade on Iranian ports and begin charging ships fees equal to 20 per cent of their cargo to cover the cost of securing the strait. A day later, he stepped back from the fee plan, though the blockade is due to resume in the coming hours. Trump said he had received calls from "kings and emirs" and other leaders who suggested another arrangement. "They said we'd love to do it a different way. We'd love to invest in the United States with billions and billions of dollars," he told reporters in the Oval Office. He added that he preferred that option to charging tolls "because I don't think anybody should be able to charge a fee for the strait." It was not clear whether those investments would be new commitments beyond what Trump announced after a visit to the Middle East last year.
The Strait of Hormuz carries a major share of the world's energy trade. Before the war, about a fifth of all traded crude oil and natural gas moved through it without tolls. After the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, the passage was effectively shut as Iran attacked and threatened ships, sending the prices of oil, fertiliser and other goods sharply higher. Iran has more recently targeted ships using a route through the strait overseen by the US military and outside Tehran's control, triggering tit-for-tat strikes. The US has threatened to reopen the strait by force, though experts say that could require a much larger naval deployment, if not tens of thousands of ground troops.
The US military's Central Command said it struck several places in Iran, targeting "coastal defense systems, missile and drone sites and maritime capabilities". Iran acknowledged the attacks but gave no immediate assessment of casualties or damage. "These strikes will continue imposing a heavy cost on Iranian forces and degrade their ability to attack innocent civilians and commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz," the US military said. Iran then launched attacks targeting Kuwait, Jordan and three tankers that had travelled through the strait. In Bahrain, home to the US Navy's 5th Fleet, air raid sirens sounded four times on Tuesday and people were told to seek shelter.
Two of the targeted ships were linked to the United Arab Emirates and caught fire for some time. The International Maritime Organization said the attacks on the tankers Mombasa and Al Bahiyah killed two mariners and injured 14 others. The UAE threatened retaliation. Dutch firm Stolt Tankers said one of its vessels, the Stolt Magnesium, was also attacked off Oman, causing a fire in the engine room, though all mariners were safe. Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said the Mombasa and Al Bahiyah had "ignored repeated warnings". Hours after the US said it had ended its strike campaign, the Iranian city of Bushehr on the Persian Gulf was hit in at least four places, according to state-run IRNA. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency warned airlines against flying in the airspace of Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE, and over the Gulf of Oman.
The interim peace deal was already under strain before the latest attacks. It is now nearing the midpoint of the 60 days during which negotiators were supposed to reach a final agreement covering the war, Iran's disputed nuclear programme and other issues. Washington had lifted a blockade imposed in mid-April under the deal, but the US military said it would resume at midnight Wednesday in Dubai. Trump's now-withdrawn fee proposal would have marked a break with longstanding US policy and with recent assurances by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that the strait would remain open to all without tolls. Under the interim agreement, Iran had accepted free passage through the strait for 60 days, though the deal did not settle what would happen after that. Iran says it has the right to manage traffic through the waterway and possibly charge fees, a position the US disputes. Brent crude briefly rose above USD 87 a barrel early on Tuesday, below the nearly USD 120 reached at the height of the war, before falling to USD 78 after Trump's reversal.
Regional mediators are still trying to bring Washington and Tehran back to the table, according to two regional officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. They said Pakistan-led mediation was working around the clock to revive the ceasefire. At the same time, Lebanese and Israeli delegations were expected to meet in Rome on Tuesday for US-mediated talks. Hezbollah joined the conflict after the war began on February 28 in support of Iran, and Israel responded with a ground invasion of Lebanon. Last month, Lebanon and Israel announced a "framework agreement" for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon in exchange for Hezbollah's disarmament, but implementation has stalled. With the Strait of Hormuz again under threat, the peace deal weakening and talks continuing on multiple fronts, efforts to prevent a return to full-scale war remain under pressure.
With PTI Inputs
