US President Donald Trump took a day to reverse his plans to charge a 20 per cent toll on cargo going through the Strait of Hormuz, saying that Middle Eastern countries will instead make investment and trade deals with the US
“Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I have decided to replace the 20% United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States,” Trump said on social media.
The president said the investments “will be MASSIVE,” though it’s unclear if these would be new commitments relative to what Trump announced after a visit last year to the Middle East.
While conducting a press conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi at the White House, Trump said that Iran and Hezbollah might be added to the Russia sanctions bill which is currently under consideration by Congress.
Iran lawmakers call for an end to US interim deal
180 out of the 290 members of Iran’s parliament on Tuesday issued a statement declaring an end to the memorandum of understanding with the United States and emphasised the necessity of “pursuing revenge”, Al Jazeera reported.
They also called for the passing of new legislation to manage the Strait of Hormuz on Iran’s terms.
Israel to implement ‘pilot zones’ in Lebanon
Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar told reporters in Tel Aviv that Israel is ready to implement two “pilot zones” in southern Lebanon where it will gradually withdraw its troops, allowing the Lebanese military to take full control of the areas after Hezbollah’s withdrawal.
The zones are part of a framework peace agreement brokered by the United States.
Lebanon and Israel began the sixth round of peace talks at the US Embassy in Rome on Tuesday. The talks will last two days and aim to set out how to implement the framework deal.
Hormuz records lowest ship passage since US-Iran deal in June
The Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, recorded the lowest navigational passage of ships since the signing of the MoU on June 17, with only four ships passing, Al Jazeera reported.
This included one oil tanker and three container ships. Marine Traffic platform’s data showed that the four ships departed from ports in Oman and the UAE but hid their final destination and ownership registration data when returning from the strait.
Iran introduces Strait of Hormuz bill
The Iranian parliament has started to work on a Strait of Hormuz bill, the head of the security committee, Ebrahim Azizi, said on Tuesday, July 14. The development comes as the US and Iran reignited their fighting last week over disagreements on managing the vital strait.
“Last night, coinciding with the downing of US drones, the ‘Strategic Action for the Security and Sustainable Progress of the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf’ bill was formally introduced in Iran’s Parliament. We remain steadfast in defending our red lines, particularly regarding the management of the Strait of Hormuz. This is the first step; subsequent measures are forthcoming.” Azizi said in a post on X.
US threatens to reopen strait by force
The US launched strikes on Iran early Tuesday, hours after President Donald Trump vowed to reinstate an American blockade of Iranian ports and charge ships for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran responded with attacks on Middle East allies of the US.
The actions leave in tatters an interim deal meant to pause the fighting, reopen a waterway that is a crucial passage for the world’s energy supplies, and give negotiators time to hammer out a permanent end to the war. Instead, fighting has once again engulfed the region and threatened the global economy. Unless a diplomatic solution is found quickly, it could intensify into all-out war.
Iran effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz during the war by attacking and threatening ships — a tactic that proved its greatest strategic advantage since it sent the price of oil, fertiliser and other goods soaring at a time when world leaders were already struggling to address a rising cost of living.
The interim deal was supposed to reopen the waterway, but Iran has attacked some ships moving through the strait.
The US has now threatened to reopen the strait by force — but experts say that will require a much bigger armada if not tens of thousands of American troops on Iranian soil. It’s possible Trump will back down, as he has previously.
Attacks resume across the Mideast
The US military’s Central Command said it struck several areas in Iran, targeting “coastal defence systems, missile and drone sites and maritime capabilities.” Iran acknowledged the strikes, but provided no immediate casualty or damage assessments.
“These strikes will continue imposing a heavy cost on Iranian forces and degrade their ability to attack innocent civilians and commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz,” the US military said.
Moments after the military announced the new strikes, Trump called it “another major attack” and said the US was “putting the blockade back.”
Two UAE ships attacked by Iran
Iran responded with attacks targeting Bahrain, Jordan and three tankers that travelled through the strait.
Two of the ships were associated with the United Arab Emirates and were set ablaze for a time. The Emirati Defence Ministry said the attack on the tankers Mombasa and Al Bahiyah killed one mariner and wounded eight others. The Emirates threatened to retaliate.
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard claimed the attack on the two tankers, saying the vessels “ignored repeated warnings.” Iran has targeted ships that use a route through the strait that passes near Oman outside of its territorial waters.
Later, Dutch shipping firm Stolt Tankers said that one of its ships came under attack off Oman in the Arabian Sea, around the time the other two vessels were hit. The attack sparked a fire in the Stolt Magnesium’s engine room, but the company said all the mariners aboard were safe and accounted for.
Attacks on Bahrain, Jordan
Bahrain also came under renewed attack early Tuesday morning as Iran retaliated over the latest round of US airstrikes. Bahrain, home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, sounded its missile alert sirens three times, urging people to seek shelter.
Jordan’s military separately said it intercepted four missiles from Iran. Jordan hosts US forces and has come under attack by Tehran in recent days.
Interim deal is in peril
Exchanges of fire in recent days had already cast doubt on the interim peace deal — now almost halfway through the 60-day period in which negotiators were supposed to agree to a final accord, which also was meant to address Iran’s disputed nuclear programme and other issues.
But Trump’s vow to impose a blockade further imperils it. Washington lifted a blockade it imposed in mid-April as part of the deal. The US military said it will resume it at midnight in Dubai.
“We are reinstating the THE IRANIAN BLOCKADE,” Trump said on social media. “All other countries will have fair and open use of the Strait.”
But the president said the US would impose a fee for protecting other ships: 20 per cent of the value of cargo to help cover “any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security.”
That’s a change to longstanding US policy. The US Navy has fought for freedom of navigation on the seas since the Barbary Wars in the early 19th century and the War of 1812. It’s also a departure from recent US promises that the strait would remain open to all without tolls — recently offered by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on a trip to the region.
Under the interim deal, Iran agreed that passage through the strait would remain free of charge for 60 days — but the agreement left open what would happen after. Iran asserts it has the right to manage traffic through the strait and potentially charge fees. The US has disputed that.
Any attempt by the US or Iran to charge fees would violate global norms on freedom of navigation and raise tensions, likely causing further economic disruption far beyond the region.
The price of benchmark Brent crude oil rose to a one-month high of over USD 86 in trading Tuesday, still well below the nearly USD 120 reached at the height of the war but threatening to make costs everywhere higher.
Negotiations between Israel and Lebanon will resume
Lebanese and Israeli delegations were expected to meet in Rome on Tuesday to continue US-mediated negotiations. Shortly after the US and Israel launched the war on February 28, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah joined the conflict in support of its ally, Iran, and began attacking Israel. Israel responded with a ground invasion of Lebanon.
Last month, Lebanon and Israel announced a “framework agreement” outlining the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon in exchange for the disarmament of Hezbollah. On the ground, however, the agreement has stalled.
Before the fighting around the strait intensified, Israel’s war against Hezbollah in Lebanon repeatedly threatened to derail the interim deal. A truce now exists in Lebanon, but it remains unclear whether it will hold if the US and Iran return to full-scale war.
(With input from Associated Press.)
