The president of the United States, Donald Trump, has retracted his statements and announced that he will not charge the 20% fee that he had proposed to facilitate the transit of ships through the Strait of Hormuz, as he announced in a publication on the social network Truth Social.
The US president has assured that he has held “very productive conversations” with Middle Eastern leaders and that, therefore, instead of implementing the 20% rate, he has reached an agreement with the Gulf States by which they will make “trade and investment agreements” in the United States.
As it is, the Strait of Hormuz is open “to all maritime traffic”, except that of Iran, since its leader is “violent, lying and malicious.” For this reason, the “total” blockade is maintained on ships arriving or leaving Iranian ports or “that transport anything related to Iranian cargo.”
Iran assures that it will not give in “not one bit”
The Iranian Army, for its part, has assured that they will not give up “not one bit” on matters related to the Strait of Hormuz, after Trump proclaimed himself “guardian” of this maritime passage.
The American president had announced just 24 hours ago that the United States would reimpose the naval blockade against ships leaving or arriving at Iranian ports, and that it would charge a 20% tax on vessels from other countries to facilitate their passage through the strait.
Russia accuses the United States of violating the memorandum
In addition, attacks between both countries have happened again, which put an end to the ceasefire agreed in the memorandum of understanding. In fact, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has accused the United States of violating that memorandum: “We see it as a violation of the memorandum. There is not much more to say, it is sad. Since civil infrastructure loses both in Iran and in the Arab countries.”
Before Donald Trump’s official announcement to withdraw the 20% rates, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) had explained that “there are no legal bases” that allow countries to introduce tolls for transit in straits such as Hormuz.
