Trump warns Iran on Hormuz tolls before talks

• Pakistan to host US-Iran talks
• Trump demands Iran open Hormuz
• Transit fees would have broad impact

US President Donald Trump has demanded Iran restore access to the Strait of Hormuz ahead of talks this weekend aimed at turning an uneasy ceasefire into a durable settlement.

The two sides are due to meet in Pakistan on Saturday as shipping through the chokepoint remains at an effective standstill. The fragile truce came under renewed strain on Friday after Kuwait reported drone attacks on “vital” facilities overnight.

Trump used a Truth Social post to warn the Islamic Republic against imposing fees on tankers transiting the strait, an idea that has been discussed by the industry in recent days.

“Iran is doing a very poor job, dishonorable some would say, of allowing Oil to go through the Strait of Hormuz. That is not the agreement we have!” he wrote.

He added that flows would resume regardless of Tehran’s position. “You’ll see Oil start flowing, with or without the help of Iran and, to me, it makes no difference, either way.”

Any attempt to charge for passage would mark a significant shift in how one of the world’s most important shipping routes is managed.

Hamid Hosseini, a spokesperson for Iran’s Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters’ Union, told the Financial Times this week that Tehran was collecting a tariff of $1 per barrel from tankers passing through the waterway. Payments, he added, were being made in cryptocurrency to avoid sanctions-related restrictions.

Hosseini claimed Gulf exporters could receive preferential treatment depending on payment terms. “If a buyer of crude from the Persian Gulf pays money for crude in yuan, that will help them pass Hormuz,” he told The Wall Street Journal.

GCC producers have pushed back strongly against any such move. 

Dr Sultan Al Jaber, the UAE’s industry and advanced technology minister and chief executive of Abu Dhabi’s state oil company Adnoc, has said the strait must be opened “fully, unconditionally and without restriction”.

Al Jaber said the chokepoint was a natural waterway governed by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The US is separately seeking commitments from Nato to help secure the strait, asking allies to present concrete plans to ensure safe navigation within days.

The request was discussed during meetings between US and Nato officials at the White House on Thursday, where Trump met secretary general Mark Rutte.

Rutte said the alliance could support a broader coalition planning a mission to ensure the free passage of ships. “If Nato can help, obviously Nato is there,” he said. “If Nato can play a role, it would be great.”

• Fee relief for Dubai businesses feeling strain of Iran war
• Economic shock from Iran conflict to dominate IMF meetings
• Saudi oil exports take 700,000-bpd hit from Iranian attacks  

About 40 countries, led by the UK and including Japan, South Korea, Australia, Bahrain and the UAE, are considering how to support efforts to keep the strait open.

“This is about practical support,” Rutte said. “It will probably be about minehunters. It will be frigates. It will be about radar technology.”

However, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Germany would not participate in securing the strait before the conflict ends, Politico reported.

“We are prepared to help after a peace agreement is reached,” Merz said. “That’s why you shouldn’t expect any decisions from us within the next few days.”