Trump Seeks US Control of Strait of Hormuz as US, Iran Exchange Fresh Strikes

The US carried out a third consecutive night of strikes on Iran on Monday as President Donald Trump declared Washington would take over security of the Strait of Hormuz, reinstate a blockade on Iranian shipping and charge a 20 per cent fee on cargo transiting the strategic waterway, marking a dramatic shift in long-standing US policy on freedom of navigation.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said it completed the latest wave of strikes at 10:15 p.m. ET on July 13. During the five-hour operation, U.S. forces struck military targets in Bushehr, Chah Bahar, Jask, Konarak, Abu Musa and Bandar Abbas, targeting Iranian coastal defence systems, missile and drone sites, and maritime capabilities.

CENTCOM said the operation, carried out using precision-guided munitions, was aimed at further degrading Iran's ability to attack commercial shipping. More than 50,000 US service members remain deployed across the Middle East.

The latest strikes came after Trump told the Hugh Hewitt Show that Iran would be hit "very hard tonight, and we're going to hit them hard tomorrow. And there's not a damn thing they can do about it." He later told reporters at the White House that the US was targeting Iranian military capabilities linked to the Strait of Hormuz.

Shortly after the strikes, Iranian media reported explosions in Bandar Abbas, the islands of Kish, Qeshm and Abu Musa, as well as in Bushehr province. Iran's official IRNA news agency later reported that US projectiles struck Khuzestan province early on Tuesday, wounding four people. Rescue operations were underway, according to a provincial security official.

Iran has not officially commented on the latest US attacks.

The escalation came as maritime tensions in the Gulf intensified. The UAE Ministry of Defence said Iranian cruise missiles struck two Emirati oil tankers, Mombasa and Al Bahiyah, while they were transiting the southern lane of the Strait of Hormuz in Omani territorial waters.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had struck and disabled two "offending" supertankers in the strait after they ignored repeated warnings and switched off their navigation systems. The IRGC did not identify the vessels or confirm whether they were the same tankers cited by the UAE.

The Guards accused the United States of "inciting vessels to use an illegal route" and warned that cooperation with the "aggressor enemy" would result in damage, delays in reopening the waterway and a global energy crisis.

Bahrain also reported intercepting Iranian aerial attacks, with media adviser to the king Nabeel Alhamer saying the country's air defence systems had destroyed incoming projectiles, Reuters reported.

Trump earlier announced on Truth Social that the U.S. would reinstate what he described as an Iranian shipping blockade.

"The Hormuz Strait is OPEN, and will remain OPEN, with or without Iran. We are reinstating THE IRANIAN BLOCKADE."

He added:

"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 rejected Trump's proposal, with the country's top joint military command saying Washington had no authority over the future of the waterway.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi wrote on X that Tehran remained the guardian of the strait "forever", adding in response to Trump's proposal: "20% is of course too much. We will be fair."

The United Nations' shipping agency criticised Trump's proposal, saying there was no legal basis under international law for imposing mandatory fees on vessels using international straits. It reiterated its opposition to tolls on key maritime passages used for global navigation.

The US Navy-led Joint Maritime Information Center said the blockade would take effect at 2000 GMT on Tuesday and would apply to all vessel traffic, regardless of flag, along Iran's coastline, including its ports and oil terminals.

The announcement marks a significant departure from long-standing US policy supporting freedom of navigation through international waterways, The Guardian reported. Analysts have warned that any attempt by either the United States or Iran to impose transit fees in the Strait of Hormuz would challenge established international norms and risk further disruption to global trade and energy markets.