Trump reveals Strait of Hormuz game-changer — and gives bad news to anyone hoping to transit for free

The Strait of Hormuz — the body of water between Iran and Oman linking the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman — is one of the world's key maritime choke points through which roughly one-fifth of the world's oil customarily transits. It has largely been closed since the U.S. and Israel went to war with Iran in late February.

After America's interim peace deal and ceasefire with Tehran was blown to smithereens last week, President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. will "keep" the strait and formally serve as its guardian.

'We guarded it for nothing.'

U.S. Central Command announced late on Sunday that it had executed another series of offensive strikes against Iran, striking "Iranian military air-defense systems, coastal radar sites, missile and drone capabilities, and small boats using U.S. fighter aircraft, naval vessels, one-way attack aerial drones, and one-way attack sea drones for the first time."

CENTCOM stated that "the Strait of Hormuz is a vital maritime corridor for global trade. Iran does not control it."

Trump referred to the latest strikes in a phone interview with "Fox & Friends" on Monday, noting, "We had a deal — it was a done deal — and then they broke it. They always break it. We've had 10 deals with these people."

"So we're just going to hit them very hard, and we're going to keep the strait," continued the president. "And we'll probably run it. We'll become the guardian of the strait. Maybe we’ll call it the guardian angel of the strait. And we should be reimbursed for that."

In April, Trump floated the idea of the U.S. unilaterally imposing tolls on vessels attempting to pass through the strait, stating, "Why shouldn't we? We're the winner."

RELATED: Trump says interim peace deal with Tehran is 'over' after Iranian strikes: 'They're scum'

Elif Acar/Anadolu/Getty Images

This suggestion ruffled some feathers at the time, especially since tolls on vessels transiting a natural strait would seem to run afoul of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea — ratified by the U.S., 170 other nations, and the European Union — which guarantees vessels the "right of transit passage" through straits used for international navigation; bars states bordering straits from hampering transit passage; and states that "no charge may be levied upon foreign ships by reason only of their passage through the territorial sea."

In his interview on Monday, Trump said, "When we do that, we're going to be reimbursed, because the other nations are very wealthy, they're on our side, and we can't be expected to do that for nothing, unlike we had for many years."

"We guarded the strait for 50 years — more — and we never got paid for it," added Trump.

"We guarded it for nothing, and now we're going to guard it and we're going to get paid for guarding it — a lot of money."

Trump later noted in a Truth Social post that "the U.S.A. will be, from this point forward, known as 'THE GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT,' but as such, and as a matter of FAIRNESS, will be reimbursed, at the rate of 20% on all cargo shipped, for any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security to this very volatile section of the World."

The BBC suggested that American allies will likely "balk" at the 20% duty.

A spokesman for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, the unified command of the remaining Iranian Armed Forces, said in a statement on Monday, "We will under no circumstances allow the US to interfere in the management of the Strait of Hormuz."

The spokesman said that Iran would respond forcefully to any attempt by the "aggressor and pirate US military" to obstruct or create insecurity for the passage of commercial ships outside the routes designated by Tehran, reported state media.

Mohammed Mokhber, an adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, reportedly said in a statement, "We defend it so that in the future, for the passage of our ships, we are not forced to pay tribute to the enemy!"

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