This wasn’t the deal — and Trump is calling B.S.
President Donald Trump is drawing a hard line with Iran as reports surface that Tehran may be charging oil tankers to pass through the critical Strait of Hormuz.
“There are reports that Iran is charging fees to tankers going through the Hormuz Strait — They better not be and, if they are, they better stop now!” Trump wrote on TRUTH Social.
The warning lands at a fragile moment, with a U.S.-backed ceasefire hinging on Iran reopening one of the world’s most vital oil chokepoints.
But so far, that full reopening hasn’t happened.
According to the Financial Times, Iran has floated a plan to charge ships the cryptocurrency equivalent of $1 per barrel of oil carried during the temporary truce.
Tehran has also reportedly framed toll collection as a condition for maintaining the pause in hostilities.
That demand is running headlong into Trump’s insistence that the strait be fully and immediately reopened.
“Iran is doing a very poor job, dishonorable some would say, of allowing Oil to go through the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump said in a separate post. “That is not the agreement we have!”
Despite the ceasefire framework, oil traffic through the strait has ground to a near halt, with energy markets watching closely.
A backlog of roughly 3,200 vessels has built up west of the passage, including about 800 tankers and cargo ships waiting for clarity and security guarantees before moving.
“No oil tankers have risked the journey,” said Matt Smith of Kpler. “For all intents and purposes, the strait remains closed.”
Only three ships reportedly transited the strait Thursday, two of them Iranian-flagged.
With oil shipments stalled and tensions simmering, the standoff over the Strait of Hormuz is fast becoming the next flashpoint in a conflict that’s already rattled global markets.
The clock on the ceasefire is ticking.
This story is developing…
