US President Donald Trump has renewed his demand that other nations reimburse Washington for keeping the Strait of Hormuz open, arguing that countries benefiting from the oil route have offered the United States "no help whatsoever" during its ongoing conflict with Iran.
"Oil is flowing through the Hormuz Strait. The Countries of the World, which have been no help to us whatsoever, should, and will, reimburse the United States of America when this SCAM Confligration is all over. We are doing it much more for others, than we are for ourselves, and we have been for Generations!" Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Monday.
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The Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly a fifth of the world's traded oil normally passes, has been a flashpoint since the US-Iran conflict escalated earlier this year, disrupting shipping and rattling energy markets.
Both Brent crude and US West Texas Intermediate remained above $100 a barrel on Monday despite Trump's assurance that oil continues to move through the waterway.
This is not the first time Trump has raised the reimbursement demand.
In July, he named Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain as countries that should compensate the US for protecting shipping through the Strait, having earlier floated and then dropped a proposed 20% transit fee on cargo passing through the corridor in favour of trade and investment arrangements.
ALSO READ: Iran Widens Hormuz Net, Adds 77 Vessels To Transit Blacklist
Trump's latest post came alongside signs of a possible diplomatic opening. He said separately that Iran wanted to reach a deal "quickly and badly," and that his administration remained open to negotiations, though the decision on whether to proceed would rest with him.
Additionally, the comments followed the postponement of planned talks between Gulf states and Iran over the future control of the Strait.
ALSO READ: US Could Keep Iran's Oil After The War? Trump Clarifies
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