Cargo vessels using the Strait of Hormuz would not face the 20% charge proposed by President Donald Trump. He cancelled the idea on Tuesday, less than a day after presenting it as compensation for an American security role in the channel.
The president said leaders from Gulf monarchies contacted him after the announcement. In his account, they preferred placing billions of dollars into the United States. Trump said that alternative appealed to him because ordinary passage through the strait should not carry a fee.
No supplied document identifies the leaders, records specific sums or sets conditions for those investments. It is also uncertain whether Trump referred to fresh commitments or ones disclosed during his prior regional trip. The investment explanation should therefore be understood as the president's description, not a finalized agreement documented in the evidence.
His reversal preceded the return of a U.S. blockade against Iranian ports by only hours. The blockade still went ahead. American forces also attacked Iranian coastal defences, maritime capabilities, logistics, and drone and missile facilities, according to U.S. Central Command. Iran launched retaliatory action against ships and Gulf countries.
The fee would have represented a pronounced departure from Washington's usual stance. The United States has long supported uncharged navigation through the passage, a position Secretary of State Marco Rubio had recently repeated. A temporary accord between Tehran and Washington likewise provided toll-free access for 60 days, but did not decide the later regime.
The United Nations shipping agency challenged the concept. An International Maritime Organization representative said international-navigation straits do not provide a lawful basis for compulsory transit payments. Iran claims a right to control movement there and potentially assess charges.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reacted to Trump's original proposal by saying the authority ensuring safe travel deserved payment. He insisted that Iran, rather than America, guarded the strait and considered the 20% figure excessive. His response illustrated that cancelling Trump's fee did not settle the underlying dispute over control.
Security conditions were already worsening. The United Arab Emirates accused Iran of cruise-missile attacks against two UAE-linked tankers. It reported one Indian mariner dead and eight people wounded. Iran's Revolutionary Guard accepted responsibility but said the ships ignored its directions and entered a mined path. The supplied material does not reconcile those accounts.
The route carries exceptional economic weight. Before war disrupted traffic, it handled approximately one-quarter of worldwide oil and one-fifth of liquefied natural gas. At the narrowest section, shipping lanes run through waters belonging to Iran and Oman.
Trump's decision removed the immediate prospect of an American 20% toll. It did not end military enforcement, establish an investment package or answer who could regulate future passage. Those larger questions remained unresolved.
