President Donald Trump announced a bold plan on Monday to manage the disputable Strait of Hormuz by offering the guardianship and payment plan.
Speaking to the reporters, Trump said the US would probably take over the Strait of Hormuz and must get paid for controlling the key shipping lane.
Trump asserted, “We’re going to keep the strait, and we’ll probably run it. We’ll become the guardian of the strait. Maybe we’ll call it the guardian angel of the strait. And we should be reimbursed for that.”
“I want to be reimbursed because we’re protecting a VERY rich portion of the world. We’re spending money, and so what we’ve done is we are going to be reimbursed for protection.”
Trump asserted that every ship has to pay 20 percent for passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
In response to this plan, Iranian FM, Abbas Araghchi, took aim at President Trump and mocked the payment plan.
“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,” he added.
In a recent conflict between Tehran and Washington, the main thorny issue is that “who controls the Strait of Hormuz.” The waterway is significantly important as around 20 percent of global oil and energy supplies pass through it.
Recently, to manage the Strait of Hormuz Oman offered a two-corridor-based plan. However, Iran has not agreed to that.
According to IMO, the Strait of Hormuz is an international waterway and any effort to charge a toll will be not legally acceptable.
