Trump says US reinstates blockade of Strait of Hormuz after new clashes with Iran
By Elwely Elwelly, Tala Ramadan and Katharine Jackson
DUBAI/WASHINGTON, July 13 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Monday the United States was reinstating its blockade of Iranian shipping in the Gulf and would ensure the Strait of Hormuz stays open after the two sides exchanged more missile and drone attacks.
The latest hostilities followed an announcement by Iran over the weekend that it was closing the strait, and cast further doubt on the viability of an interim deal to halt the war in the Middle East and drove oil prices higher.
"The Hormuz Strait is OPEN, and will remain OPEN, with or without Iran. We are reinstating THE IRANIAN BLOCKADE," Trump said on Truth Social.
"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."
Iran's top joint military command said the U.S. had no role in determining the future of the vital shipping route and said in a statement on Monday it would not be allowed to intervene in the management of the strait.
The Revolutionary Guardssaid on Monday they had targeted U.S. military facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait, destroyed radar systems in Oman and hit fuel tanks and ammunition depots at Prince Hassan Air Base in Jordan in response to U.S. strikes.
The U.S. military said it had struck Iranian air defence systems, coastal radar sites, missile and drone capabilities and small boats on Sunday, using aircraft, naval vessels and drones.
On Monday, the U.S. attacked military sites in southern parts of Iran, including Qeshm, Bandar Abbas and Abadan, Iran's official news agency IRNA said, citing a local official.
Bahrain said its air defence systems had intercepted several Iranian missile and drone attacks early on Monday.
The latest exchanges mark an escalation in both the pace and geographic reach of attacks over the past week, throwing into question an interim U.S.-Iranian agreement signed last month to reopen the strait and halt hostilities while the sides pursued a further 60 days of negotiations.
Trump has said he considers the ceasefire over, while leaving the door open to further talks.
"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, and so we're just going to hit them very hard," he said in a phone interview on Fox News' "Fox & Friends" program on Monday.
Iran's top negotiator, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, struck a similarly defiant tone, posting on X on Sunday: "The era of one-sided deals is OVER. We told you: keep your word or pay the price. Reality is knocking."
The war launched by the United States and Israel against Iran on February 28 has destabilised the Gulf and spread across the region, with Iran attacking U.S. bases in multiple countries.
In Yemen, the Iran-aligned Houthi movement accused Saudi Arabia on Monday of launching airstrikes against the international airport in Sanaa, and vowed to retaliate, testing a truce in a conflict between the kingdom and the militia group.
OIL PRICES JUMP
Control of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for global oil supplies, has become one of the main battlegrounds of the conflict. Iran's effective blockade of the strait has pushed up energy prices and increased concerns about inflation globally.
Brent crude jumped by more than 4% on Monday on Trumps's latest comments and on fears of disruption to one of the world's most important energy shipping routes, although prices remained below the peaks reached earlier in the conflict.
Higher energy prices, particularly gasoline costs, are politically sensitive for Trump before congressional elections in November.
After announcing the strait's closure on Saturday following what it described as an unauthorised transit, Tehran said on Monday it continued to control the channel.
"We continue to assert our authority and control over the Strait of Hormuz with strength and power, and we will force foreigners and their allies to surrender to the will of the Iranian people," Hossein Mohebbi said in comments carried by state media.
Thousands of people have been killed during the war, mainly in Iran and Lebanon. On Monday, Iranian state media confirmed the deaths of two people in Abadan in southwestern Iran.
IRAN SEEKS OMAN DEAL ON STRAIT TRAFFIC
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said in a statement on Monday that the only way to restore regular shipping traffic through the strait was to end U.S. military interventions in the waterway, and warned that "continued interference could lead to greater incidents in the global oil and gas sector."
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Iran was seeking to establish a joint mechanism with Oman to manage traffic through the strait, adding that U.S. pressure on Oman had hindered discussions.
Iran has sought to establish a permanent fee and permit system for vessels using the strait, which before the war carried about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments.
The U.S., which revoked a licence waiving sanctions on Iranian crude sales last week after earlier attacks on shipping, said its forces were positioned to safeguard freedom of navigation.
"Iran does not control the strait. Traffic is flowing," it said.
U.S. officials said around 20 vessels had been escorted through the strait in the previous 24 hours, though ship-tracking data showed little traffic moving. MarineTraffic said on Monday that vessel activity through the strait declined by about 52% over July 10 to 12 compared to the previous week.
(Additional reporting by Enas Alashray, Ahmed Elimam, Eman Abouhassira and Andrew Mills, Writing by Stephen Coates and Ros Russell; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Timothy Heritage)
