President Donald Trump said on Monday that the United States was reinstating a naval blockade on Iran and would be reimbursed 20 per cent on all cargo shipped through the Strait of Hormuz after Tehran claimed it had closed the vital waterway.

“The Hormuz Strait is OPEN, and will remain OPEN, with or without Iran. We are reinstating THE IRANIAN BLOCKADE,” Trump said on Truth Social. “The U.S.A... 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,” he said. He said the process would begin immediately, but did not elaborate.

The U.S. president floated the idea earlier in a phone interview on Fox News’ Fox & Friends program, saying the U.S. would probably take over the strait and should be reimbursed. “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,” he told the Fox & Friends program.

Control of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for global oil supplies, has become one of the main battlegrounds of the conflict. Iran’s effective blockade of the strait has pushed up energy prices and increased concerns about inflation globally.

“We’re going to be reimbursed, because the other nations are very wealthy. They’re on our side, and we can’t be expected to do that for nothing,” he said.