U.S. President Donald Trump warned Tehran against charging oil tankers for passing through the Strait of Hormuz. “There are reports that Iran is charging tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz — they’d better not do that,” he wrote on Thursday evening, April 9, on his Truth Social network. “And if they are doing it, they should stop immediately!”
In another post, Trump said that Iran is “doing a very poor job” of allowing oil to pass through the Strait of Hormuz: “Some would say even dishonorably. This is not what we agreed to!”
At the same time, the head of the White House claims that “thanks to him,” Tehran will “never obtain nuclear weapons,” and that oil will “start flowing” very soon: “With Iran’s help or without it, it doesn’t matter to me.”
On the night of April 8, the United States and Iran reached an agreement on a two-week ceasefire after prolonged hostilities. Authorities in Tehran expressed readiness to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, while insisting on maintaining control over it and charging fees for ships passing through.
After the ceasefire announcement, only a few vessels passed through the strait, according to analytics company Kpler, including two tankers flying the Iranian flag. The resumption of shipping through one of the world’s most important oil transport routes had been Trump’s main demand to the Islamic Republic in the weeks leading up to the temporary ceasefire agreement. Experts note that the U.S. president found himself in a difficult position due to rising oil prices after Iran blocked the strait in response to military actions launched against it.
