Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Monday that plans by US President Donald Trump to impose hefty fees on ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz would turn the United States into a “pirate” state.
In a post on Truth Social earlier, Trump said he will impose a 20% levy on all cargo shipped through the waterway.
Speaking at a public event in Sao Paulo state, Lula said: “A major nation like the United States, which I believe has fought against piracy for a long time, cannot now become a pirate,” according to AFP.
For his part, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has posted a reaction to Trump's announcement that the US will impose a charge on cargo passing through the Strait.
Araghchi wrote, “The US President is absolutely right. Whoever provides secure and safe passage of commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz should be compensated for this service. Iran has always been the GUARDIAN of the Strait and will remain so FOREVER. 20% is of course too much. We will be fair.”
On Monday, Trump wrote on Truth Social that he would reinstate a blockade of Iran's ports on the Strait of Hormuz and impose a 20% levy on all cargo shipped through the waterway, saying the revenue would help pay for keeping the strategic shipping route open.
“The Hormuz Strait is OPEN, and will remain OPEN, with or without Iran. We are reinstating the IRANIAN BLOCKADE, so named because it is only stopping Iran’s ships or customers from entering or leaving,” Trump said.
He added that the “US will be reimbursed, at the rate of 20% on all cargo ships, for any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security to this very volatile section of the world.”
The US President said the process would begin immediately but did not elaborate.
Trump floated the idea earlier in a phone interview on Fox News' “Fox & Friends” program, saying the US 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.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said in a statement on Monday that the only way to restore regular shipping traffic through the strait was to end US military interventions in the waterway, and warned that “continued interference could lead to greater incidents in the global oil and gas sector.”
