Iranian officials on Wednesday made it clear that the Strait of Hormuz will not be open to U.S.-linked vessels for the foreseeable future and will be accessible only to countries that adhere to the Islamic republic’s new rules for the waterway.
Ebrahim Azizi, chair of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said Wednesday that the strait will eventually be reopened to the rest of the world “but not for [President] Trump.”
“Trump reached his dream of regime change, but in the maritime order of the region,” Mr. Azizi added.
His comments are perhaps the clearest articulation yet of Iran’s post-war strategy for the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has kept the strait, through which at least 20% of the world’s oil travels each year, closed for several weeks in response to U.S. and Israeli airstrikes.
Iranian officials have asserted that the strait remains open, but not to vessels linked to Tehran’s enemies. That seems to include tankers carrying oil and liquid natural gas coming from Persian Gulf states, which Iran has attacked with drones and missiles.
Several ships linked to Pakistan and China have reportedly passed through the strait safely over the past month. Both nations are frequent importers of Iranian oil, with China alone buying up 90% of Iran’s exports.
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The comments come as Iran’s government looks to systematize control over the strait in an attempt to rake in billions in profit. Iran’s parliament is considering a law to establish an official fee system for the strait that would provide an additional revenue stream for the Islamic republic after the war.
Yahya Al-e Es’hagh, head of the Iran-Iraq Joint Chamber of Commerce, said the fee system could generate $70 billion to $80 billion a year for Iran. He added that Iran could collect “at least” a 10% fee from each ship traveling through the strait.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said during the Group of Seven nations meeting in Paris last week that such a system would be an existential threat to international trade. He said his counterparts in Europe and Asia concurred that such a plan should not survive the war.
Still, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said this week that his country’s control over the Strait of Hormuz “is and will remain Iran’s natural and legal right,” according to Iranian state media.
Keeping the strait open has emerged as a primary goal for U.S. forces, and Mr. Trump has demanded that Iran reopen the waterway by April 6 or face attacks on its civilian infrastructure.
On Wednesday, Mr. Trump said that “Iran’s new leadership” requested a ceasefire, but said any deal would have to include reopening the strait.
“Iran’s New Regime President … has just asked the United States … for a CEASEFIRE! We will consider when Hormuz Strait is open, free, and clear,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social.
He did not clarify who requested the ceasefire. Masoud Pezeshkian, Iran’s president, has been in office for more than a year and has remained in his position despite U.S. bombing and internal pressure from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry denied that it offered the U.S. a ceasefire, according to state media, calling the claims “false and baseless.”
Mr. Trump has sent mixed messages surrounding the Strait of Hormuz in recent days.
Earlier this week, the president said the U.S. would be wrapping up operations in Iran soon and that the strait would “automatically” open as soon as forces withdrew.
Mr. Trump has also implied that the U.S. does not need the oil coming out of the waterway, unlike many European countries that have worked to wean themselves off Russian energy. On Tuesday, Mr. Trump urged Washington’s allies to buy U.S. oil or “build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT.”
• Vaughn Cockayne can be reached at vcockayne@washingtontimes.com.
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