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U.S. President Donald Trump stated Monday that the United States is "taking over" the Strait of Hormuz and would likely operate the strategic waterway going forward, adding that Washington should be financially reimbursed for guarding it.
"We're taking over the Strait. They have nothing. They've got nothing," Trump said in a phone interview on Fox News' "Fox & Friends," referring to Iran.
He said Iranian negotiators had reneged on an agreement reached during an 11-hour meeting the previous day. "Yesterday, they had an 11-hour meeting... and everything was agreed to yesterday, and they leave the room, and they call back, and they say, 'We had to make a couple of changes'... For 47 years, they've been tapping people along... this should've been done 47 years ago," he said.
He added: "It looks like they're back at their business trying to take over the Strait..."
Trump said the U.S. would take on a permanent security role in the waterway.
"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 said.
He said the U.S. expected other nations to help cover the cost.
"We're going to guard it. We're going to get paid for guarding it, a lot of money," Trump said, adding: "We're going to be reimbursed, because the other nations are very wealthy. They're on our side, and we can't be expected to do that for nothing... we just want to be reimbursed for doing all of this, for putting our people in danger."
Trump did not specify which countries would be expected to provide the payment.
Trump said the U.S. had struck Iranian military equipment overnight in response to continued attacks.
"Most of their equipment is gone. Their anti-aircraft gun; we hit them very hard last night," he said, adding, "Every time they send a drone, we hit them very hard."
Trump accused Iran of repeatedly reneging on agreements, referencing the interim U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding.
"We had a deal. It was a done deal, and then they broke it. They always break it. We've had 10 deals with these people, and so we're just going to hit them very hard," he said. "They're a bad group of people. They've been this way for a long time."
Trump's comments came after Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) reiterated its position that the strait belonged to Iran, saying "The Strait of Hormuz is our territory" and that it would not allow any country to "continue its illegal interference in it."
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) has separately insisted "Iran does not control" the strait following recent U.S. strikes.
The IRGC said in a Monday statement that the only way to restore regular shipping traffic through the strait was an end to U.S. military interventions there, warning that "continued interference could lead to greater incidents in the global oil and gas sector."
After declaring the waterway's closure Saturday following what it described as an unauthorized transit, Tehran said Sunday that passage remained suspended, and that permits would be issued once "stability and calm" were restored.
U.S. and Iranian forces exchanged heavy missile and drone attacks over the weekend and into Monday, with Iran saying it had struck U.S. military facilities across the Gulf while keeping the strait closed, pushing oil prices higher.
The exchanges mark a sharp escalation in both pace and geographic reach over the past week, casting doubt on the interim U.S.-Iran agreement signed last month, which had been intended to reopen the strait and halt hostilities while both sides pursued 60 days of further negotiations.
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