President Trump Revives Maritime Blockade Amid Surging U.S.-Iran Confrontation

On Monday, the United States and Iran slipped back into the open hostilities that preceded a cease-fire aimed at restoring commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and establishing a foundation for lasting peace.

Following a fresh exchange of fire between American and Iranian forces, President Trump announced the reinstatement of a naval blockade on Iranian ports and proposed levying a fee for safeguarding vessels transiting the disputed waterway.

“We are going to guard it, and we’re going to get paid for guarding it,” the president stated during a Fox News appearance.

Trump provided no specifics on the mechanics of the plan. In a social media message, he declared that the U.S. “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.”

Asserting its own jurisdictional claims over the strait, Iran has repeatedly targeted commercial vessels, contributing to rising global energy prices and provoking American strikes on Iranian sites. Brent crude, the global benchmark, rose to $83 per barrel on Monday from $76 on Friday.

Shipping traffic through the strait—which typically transports one-fifth of the world’s crude oil—dropped sharply after an Iranian strike damaged a Cypriot-flagged container ship over the weekend. Maritime analytics firm Kpler recorded only 14 bidirectional transits on Sunday, the lowest monthly tally.

The president’s proposal to impose protection fees appears at odds with earlier remarks by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said last month that “no country is allowed to charge tolls or fees on an international waterway.”

The U.N.’s International Maritime Organization reaffirmed Monday that transit through the strait “should remain free of any tolls and charges,” citing international law and its founding treaty.

Trump first enacted a port blockade in May as a pressure tactic to degrade Iran’s economy and extract negotiating concessions. He lifted it last month following a mutual truce.

U.S. Central Command, responsible for military operations in the Middle East, said enforcement of the blockade would resume Tuesday.

Iranian military spokesman Ali Bagheri Kani cautioned regional leaders that any collaboration with U.S. forces or provision of logistical support would be treated as “an act of war against Iran’s sovereignty and national security.”

“Should the conflict expand, the flames of war will engulf all countries in the region,” he added in a statement carried by state media.

The warning forms part of an escalating rhetorical offensive from Iranian hard-liners.

Earlier Monday, Kani asserted that avenging the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei—killed in an Israeli airstrike in late February—was “the right of the Iranian nation.” Khamenei was interred last week after a funeral procession drawing millions. Some attendees held portraits of Trump and Vice President JD Vance marked with crosshairs, while many waved red banners demanding retribution.

Congress has demanded Trump halt hostilities absent legislative authorization, but the White House maintains the president is exercising his constitutional commander-in-chief powers. In a Friday letter to congressional leaders—obtained by The New York Times on Monday—Trump notified lawmakers that combat operations in Iran had restarted.

Iranian forces said early Monday they had fired another volley at U.S. military installations in Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman—sites previously struck by Iranian attacks.

Prior to those assaults, the U.S. military reported striking dozens of Iranian targets—air-defense systems, coastal radar, missile and drone facilities, and small vessels—to blunt Tehran’s capacity to menace Hormuz shipping.

Iranian state television reported that a water pumping station in Khuzestan province was struck, killing one employee and halting operations. A provincial water official said the facility is vital to local agricultural irrigation.

Meanwhile, tensions are rising between Iran-aligned Houthi forces in Yemen and U.S. ally Saudi Arabia, risking a new regional front.

On Monday, the Houthis accused Saudi Arabia of bombing Yemen’s principal international airport, a strike they suggested was meant to block an Iranian aircraft from landing in Houthi-held Sana.

A Saudi-led coalition said the Houthis subsequently launched ballistic missiles toward Saudi territory, which were intercepted by the kingdom’s air defenses.

Neither side immediately corroborated the other’s assertions.

U.N. special envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg expressed “deeply concerned about the risk of wider escalation” and said he was engaging with the factions.

“We are urging them to de-escalate and refrain from any actions that would risk a new cycle of violence in Yemen,” he added.

The Saudi-led coalition, supporting Yemen’s government, fought a devastating war with the Houthis for nearly ten years before a 2022 truce.

In a separate development, the British government announced measures against Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and a linked organization, alleging the Guards “almost certainly directed” attacks on Jewish sites across Europe.

Both entities will be among the first designated under new legislation targeting hostile foreign proxies on British soil.

Officials said the affiliated Islamic Movement of Companions of the Right claimed seven U.K. attacks, including a March arson targeting ambulances of a Jewish volunteer service in London.

If Parliament approves the designations this week, perpetrators of sabotage or arson for these groups could receive life sentences, and police and intelligence services would gain expanded investigative authority.

“We will never let Britain be a playground for states who want to spread fear, division and violence on our streets,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a statement.

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