US oil tops $75 after Trump renews Strait of Hormuz blockade on Iranian ships, announces 20% cargo fee | Today’s news
Oil prices surged on Monday after US President Donald Trump said Washington would renew a naval blockade against Iran, intensifying its battle with Tehran for control of the Strait of Hormuz.
Brent crude futures, the international benchmark, rose 5.3% to $80 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate futures were last seen 5.3% higher at $75.18, according to a CNBC report.
“We are restoring the IRANIAN BLOCKADE, so named because it only prevents Iranian ships or customers from entering or exiting. All other countries will use the strait fairly and openly,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
The decision to renew the naval blockade comes after the US and Iran traded blows over the weekend.
Trump promises Hormuz protection, demands cargo fee
The US leader said the US would protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, but demanded compensation of 20% of all cargo transported.
“The United States … will be reimbursed 20% of all cargo transported for all costs necessary to ensure the safety and security of this very volatile part of the world,” he said in a post on social media.
He further said that the process and formation will begin immediately.
Almost 20% of the world’s oil supply was transported through Hormuz before the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, 2026.
Traffic on the vital waterway dropped sharply after Iran began attacking shipping vessels in the strait in early March. However, after the signing of the interim agreement between Washington and Tehran, ships began to pass through this route again.
Why is the US imposing a naval blockade against Iran?
The US has re-imposed a naval blockade after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) attacked a container ship transiting the Strait of Hormuz. According to the US Central Command, the US military carried out strikes against Iran on Sunday after hitting 140 targets on Saturday, CNBC reported.
Iran responded on Sunday with strikes on US military facilities in Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman, the state-run Tasnim news agency reported.
Iranian state media said the Revolutionary Guards had closed Hormuz until further notice, but the US military disputed that claim. Meanwhile, US Central Command said the strait was open to “all vessels seeking lawful transit”.
The weekend attacks mark the fourth time in a week that the US has bombed Iran, saying the strikes were in retaliation for Iranian attacks on commercial vessels passing through the US-protected southern shipping corridor in the Strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile, Iran demands that ships use the northern route through its territorial waters as it claims control of the strategic waterway.
