Trump Announces Resumption of Hormuz Blockade, Demands 20% 'Toll'

[Anchor]

U.S. President Donald Trump has declared that the United States will resume the blockade of Iranian waters and charge a fee equivalent to 20% of the value of cargo for ships passing through the area in exchange for protection. If implemented, this would mean ships must pay tolls to both Iran and the U.S., with the payments to the U.S. likely to be significantly higher. The situation is now worse than it was before the previous Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed.

Our first report today, July 14, comes from correspondent Lee Hanseok in Washington.

[Reporter]

U.S. President Trump wrote on his social media that he is resuming the blockade of Iran in the Strait of Hormuz.

This marks the reinstatement of the blockade on ships traveling to and from Iranian ports and coasts, a measure that had been lifted just one month ago in accordance with the previous MOU.

The move appears intended to tighten the squeeze on Iran and cut off its funding for war.

[Donald Trump / U.S. President: There is a fact that nobody knows, we had an agreement. But Iran broke it. We will protect the strait and we will probably be running it. We will be the guardians of the strait.]

In return, Trump made an unusual demand, claiming that all countries except Iran would be able to use the strait fairly.

He unilaterally declared that the U.S. would charge a toll of 20% of the value of cargo for ships passing through the strait, under the pretext of covering the costs of the U.S. military ensuring the safety of commercial vessels.

This is interpreted as a sign that the U.S., which had previously criticized Iran for imposing passage taxes in Hormuz, is no longer willing to recognize the freedom of navigation that has been guaranteed in international waterways.

U.S. military airstrikes on the Iranian mainland are becoming more precise and powerful.

U.S. Central Command released a video on social media, claiming that it had successfully devastated submarine and naval vessel maintenance facilities at a naval base in southern Iran using multiple suicide drones.

This is the first time the U.S. military has deployed three Corsair unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) in actual combat.

As the armed conflict between the U.S. and Iran continues, the previous peace agreement is effectively considered to be off the table.

President Trump has scheduled an address to the nation for the morning of July 17, Korea Standard Time.

Attention is focused on whether President Trump will present a specific direction for his Iran policy at this crossroads of whether to resume full-scale war.

(Video reporting: Oh Jung-sik, Video editing: Lee Seung-ryul)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.