US President Donald Trump said on Monday that the United States would probably take control of the Strait of Hormuz and should be paid by other countries for securing the vital waterway.
“We’re going to keep the strait, and we’ll probably run it,” Trump said during a phone interview with Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” programme.
“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,” he added.
The Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important routes for oil and gas shipments, has emerged as a central battleground in the escalating conflict between Washington and Tehran.
Iran’s effective blockade of the waterway has disrupted global energy supplies, pushed oil prices higher and intensified fears of renewed inflation.
“We’re going to guard it. We’re going to get paid for guarding it — a lot of money,” Trump said.
He argued that wealthy countries benefiting from the waterway should contribute to the cost of securing it.
“The other nations are very wealthy. They’re on our side, and we can’t be expected to do that for nothing,” he said.
Iran announced the strait’s closure on Saturday after what Tehran described as an unauthorised transit. Iranian authorities said on Sunday that passage remained suspended and that permits would only be issued once “stability and calm” had been restored.
Trump also accused Tehran of abandoning a previous agreement.
“We had a deal. It was a done deal, and then they broke it,” he said. “They always break it. We’ve had 10 deals with these people, and so we’re just going to hit them very hard.”
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Monday that regular shipping through the strait could only resume once US military intervention in the waterway ended.
The force warned that continued US involvement could trigger further disruption across the global oil and gas industry.
US and Iranian forces exchanged heavy missile and drone attacks over the weekend and into Monday. Tehran said it had struck US military facilities across the Gulf and would continue to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed.
The latest confrontation represents a major escalation in both the intensity and geographic reach of the conflict.
It has also cast doubt on an interim US-Iran agreement signed last month to reopen the strait and suspend hostilities while the two sides held a further 60 days of negotiations.