President Trump says he’s considering a “joint venture” in which the U.S. and Iran charge tolls for ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz, a major passage for oil tankers and a key point of leverage in the Middle East conflict.
“We’re thinking of doing it as a joint venture. It’s a way of securing it — also securing it from lots of other people,” Mr. Trump told ABC News’ Jonathan Karl on Wednesday. “It’s a beautiful thing.”
Mr. Trump weighed in after he struck a two-week ceasefire with Iran that would stop U.S. airstrikes on the Islamic republic while Tehran agrees to allow traffic through the strait.
The president said the U.S. would play a role in monitoring traffic through Hormuz and rebuilding Iran.
“The United States of America will be helping with the traffic buildup in the Strait of Hormuz,” he said on social media. “There will be lots of positive action! Big money will be made. Iran can start the reconstruction process. We’ll be loading up with supplies of all kinds, and just ‘hangin’ around’ in order to make sure that everything goes well.”
The president’s cooperative tone is a big swing from 24 hours earlier, when he threatened to wipe out a “whole civilization” if Iran’s leaders did not negotiate a deal.
While Mr. Trump characterized the way forward as potentially lucrative, others questioned if the ceasefire, while welcomed, left the world at a disadvantage compared with the situation before hostilities began on Feb. 28.
An official statement from Iran late Tuesday said traffic through the strait would be conducted under coordination by Iran’s armed forces, a limitation that did not exist before the war.
Also, the two-week ceasefire plan includes provisions that would let Oman and Iran charge tolls on ships using the strait — a fee that did not exist previously because the strait was considered an international waterway.
Iran would use the money for reconstruction.
