Donald Trump has warned Iran against “blackmailing” the US after it went back on its decision to open the Strait of Hormuz. The US President declared, “They can’t blackmail us”, as he reiterated claims that Washington had eliminated most of the country’s leadership, navy, and air force.
He said: “We have very good conversations going on. It’s working out very well – they got a little cute as they have been doing for 47 years. They wanted to close up the strait again, as they’ve been doing for years, they can’t blackmail us. We’ll have some information by the end of the day. We’re talking to them, we’re taking a tough stand.”
Tehran is now calling for ships to pay to pass through the strait after it closed the vital waterway again.
A statement from the Supreme National Security Council shared by the Fars news agency said Iran would supervise and control traffic through the shipping route “until the war is definitively ended” and a lasting peace is achieved.
Before they are allowed through the strait, they would need to send Iran complete information about the vessel and receive a certificate of passage.
Iran’s joint military command said on Saturday that “control of the Strait of Hormuz has returned to its previous state … under strict management and control of the armed forces”.
It warned that it would continue to block transit through the strait as long as the US blockade of Iranian ports remained in effect. The military statement accuses the US of “piracy”, saying that its “so-called blockade” amounts to maritime robbery.
The Iranian military’s operational command, Khatam Al-Anbiya, added: “Until the US restores the complete freedom of navigation for vessels from an Iranian origin to a destination, and from a destination back to Iran, the situation in the Strait of Hormuz will remain strictly controlled and in its previous state.”
The announcement came the morning after Mr Trump said that even after Iran announced the strait’s reopening on Friday, the American blockade “will remain in full force” until Tehran reaches a deal with the US, including on its nuclear programme.
Movement through the key waterway briefly increased this morning, with several shipping vessels observed, though it remains unclear how much marine activity actually made it through.
