President Donald Trump had a good idea in all his despair. Although Iran has so far not installed its suggested tollbooth in the Strait of Hormuz but insists of paragraph 5 of the infamous Memorandum of Misunderstanding, see Speaker of the Parliament Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf’s tweet,

“The era of one-sided deals is OVER. We told you: keep your word or pay the price. Reality is knocking,”

with a reminder for those in the U.S. who have signed the 3-page document:

See UPDATE below.

So, although Iran just plays fair, Trump will now adopt a new role in the drama, The Guardian of the Hormuz Strait.

He announced yesterday, to everybody’s consternation,

“The Hormuz Strait is OPEN, and will remain OPEN, with or without Iran. We are reinstating the THE IRANIAN BLOCKADE, so named because it is only stopping Iran’s ships or customers from entering or leaving. All other countries will have fair and open use of the Strait. 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 process and formation will begin immediately. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP” (Bold emphasis added.)

Imagine a super tanker with 2 million barrels Brent at $80 per barrel: around $32K. Remember when Iran had suggested a toll of up to $2 million per vessel? Ship owners of supertankers with 2 million barrels would pay just $1 per barrel. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi responded already on X,

“POTUS is absolutely right. Whoever provides secure and safe passage of commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz should be compensated for this service.

Iran has always been the GUARDIAN of the Strait and will remain so FOREVER.

20% is of course too much. We will be fair”

And how does Donald Trump intend to collect this amount from the shipowners?

And then, as I (and others) understand the problem, Iran wants to get all ships through the northern corridor as the corridor close to the Omani coast (at least in insinuation) is still mined?

And then, the Trump Administration’s Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, stated, just last month, on June 23,

“That’s the law. It’s an international waterway. No country is allowed to charge tolls or fees on an international waterway,” Rubio said. “That’s existing international law. That’s the way it is in international waterways all over the world and that’s the way we’ll expect it’ll be here.”

And now Trump charges tolls.

By the way, when Rubio refers to international law, he means the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, or UNCLOS. While Iran has signed UNCLOS in 1982, it never ratified it. Remarkably, The U.S. did not sign or ratify it.

14 July 2026 @ 16:32 UTC+2.

Last modified July 14, 2026.

UPDATE 18:27 UTC+2.

TACO Tuesday. I forgot.