Washington DC: United States President Donald Trump on Monday (local time) said that the US could charge for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz
after the Iran war ends as Washington has defeated. With his move the US could have direct military control over the key waterway where the world's one-fifth crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) pass through before the start of the war. "What about us charging tolls? I’d rather do that than let them have them. Why shouldn’t we? We’re the winner. We won," Trump said, as quoted by Al Jazeera, when asked on Monday about Iran charging fees from ships to pass through the strait. The US President again reiterated that Iran's military has been defeated in the war. Trump further added that Iran had a psychology that they could drop "a couple of mines in the water." 'Iran Can Be Taken Out In One Night' - Trump: Speaking at a news conference in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump said Iran could be eliminated "in one night", adding that "that night may be tomorrow". "We have a plan, because of the power of our military, where every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 o'clock tomorrow (Tuesday) night, where every power plant in Iran will be out of business, burning, exploding, and never to be used again, I mean complete demolition by 12 o'clock, and it'll happen over a period of four hours, if we wanted to," Trump told reporters. He asked Iran to make a deal with the US and open the Hormuz Strait for free movement of oil by 8 pm Eastern Time on Tuesday. When asked about allegations of carrying out possible war crimes if the US attacks Iran's bridges and power plants, Trump said: "No, not at all." Trump insisted that Iranians want him to conduct more strikes and they are "willing to suffer" for freedom.
Earlier, he had told reporters that Tuesday at 8 pm ET would mark Iran's "final deadline". On Easter Sunday, he wrote on Truth Social that Iran should "open the f-ing strait" or face "hell rain down". In remarks to The Wall Street Journal, Trump said the United States would target Iranian infrastructure if the blockade continued. "If they don't do something by Tuesday evening, they won't have any power plants, and they won't have any bridges standing," he said.
The Strait of Hormuz has been virtually blocked by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) since the start of the Middle East conflict on February 26. The Hormuz blockade has triggered an energy crisis globally.
