'No Tolls, No Fees, No Charges': Trump Says Iran Dropped Hormuz Levies, Warns Talks Will Collapse if False

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Iran had told Washington it was not seeking any tolls, insurance costs or charges of any kind from ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, pushing back against what he called inaccurate reporting on the issue.

"Iran has informed the U.S. that, despite troublemaking Fake News reporting to the contrary, there ⁠are 'NO TOLLS, NO INSURANCE COSTS, & NO OTHER CHARGES OF ANY KIND BEING SOUGHT OR RECEIVED BY ⁠IRAN ON SHIPS TRAVELING THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ',” Trump wrote in Truth Social post.

"If this is false information, negotiations would end, immediately!" he added.

Trump further said no money had been handed to Iran or released to it by the United States. Instead, he said, some of Iran's own funds, currently held under American control, would go to US farmers and ranchers for the purchase of corn, wheat, soybeans and other grain, which Washington would then supply to Iran. He said the country urgently needed food and that supplies would come exclusively from America.

The comments came days after Washington and Tehran signed an interim agreement aimed at ending hostilities, including the conflict in Lebanon between Israel and Iran backed Hezbollah.

Under the fourteen point memorandum, both sides agreed to keep the Strait of Hormuz open without tolls for a minimum of 60 days. A first round of talks held in Switzerland concluded on Monday, though both governments have since given differing versions of events on financial terms, control of the strait and the Lebanon front. Trump has faced pushback at home, including from hardliners within his own Republican Party, over elements of the arrangement.

Oil prices slip as traffic stalls

Shipping through the strait, which typically carries around a fifth of global oil flows, was reported to have slowed sharply over the weekend. Iran and Oman said in a joint statement on Tuesday that they would begin working out arrangements for navigation services through the waterway, including costs in line with international norms.

Crude prices eased on Wednesday, with Brent futures for August delivery dropping three per cent to 74.75 dollars a barrel, their lowest level since the day before US and Israeli strikes on Iran began in late February. West Texas Intermediate futures for the same month fell by a similar margin to 71.03 dollars a barrel.