US President Donald Trump said on Thursday there are reports that Iran is charging fees to tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz, warning that such measures “better not be” happening and must stop immediately.
A long message attributed to Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei vowed to “not let go” of attackers, seek compensation and “avenge” the dead, warned it would take Hormuz Strait “to a new phase,” and urged Arab neighbors to “stand in the right place” and turn away from Western powers.
Iran's leaders are "agreeing to all the things that they have to agree to. Remember, they’ve been conquered. They have no military. If they don’t make a deal, it’s going to be very painful,” Trump told NBC on Thursday.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of Iran’s parliament, said Tehran may consider entering negotiations with the United States if Washington stops what he described as repeated violations of commitments, while warning that hostilities could resume otherwise.
Iran’s nationwide internet blackout has entered its 41st day, with disruption exceeding 960 hours, according to internet monitoring group NetBlocks.
Iran’s nuclear chief said on Thursday that demands by adversaries to limit the country’s uranium enrichment program would fail.
No Iraqi oil tanker has passed through the Strait of Hormuz since the ceasefire between Iran and the United States was announced, Iraq’s oil ministry said on Thursday.
The Strait of Hormuz has been fully closed, forcing oil tankers to turn back, Iran's state-run Press TV reported on Wednesday.
Vice President JD Vance said Tehran’s negotiators thought the US-Iran ceasefire agreed on Tuesday included Lebanon, but Washington had in fact not agreed to that.
Iran’s parliamentary speaker said several key clauses of Tehran’s proposed framework for negotiations with the United States have already been violated, casting doubt on the basis for talks expected to begin in Pakistan.
Netanyahu aide says US and Israel in ‘complete agreement’
Ophir Falk, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s chief foreign policy adviser, said on Thursday Israel and the United States are in “complete agreement” amid ongoing regional tensions.
Speaking to NBC’s Meet the Press NOW, Falk described a recent strike on Beirut as the largest operation against Hezbollah leadership since 2024.
Asked about the objective of Israel’s campaign against Iran, he said it remains to “remove the existential threat” posed by the Iranian leadership, including its nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities.
Bahrain sends UN letter condemning Iran missile and drone attacks
Bahrain’s mission to the United Nations on Thursday sent a letter to the UN secretary-general and the Security Council condemning what it described as Iranian missile and drone attacks on the kingdom and the region.
The letter, submitted on behalf of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait, said the attacks since February 28 violate international law, the UN Charter and state sovereignty.
It urged the Security Council to take necessary measures to ensure Iran complies with its obligations and halts what it described as violations, while reaffirming Gulf states’ right to self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter.
UK foreign minister rejects idea of Iran imposing tolls in Strait of Hormuz
UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz is a “fundamental principle” of international maritime law, rejecting any unilateral move to impose charges on shipping.
In an interview with Channel 4 aired on Thursday, she said the Strait is part of international shipping routes linking the high seas and argued that no country can “unilaterally go against the law of the sea” by imposing tolls.
Strait of Hormuz shipping tolls would break law of the sea, says Yvette Cooperhttps://t.co/F5WWbPRWmW
— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) April 9, 2026Strait of Hormuz traffic drops to six vessels on Thursday, data shows
A total of six ships passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, according to data compiled by the global ship tracking firm MarineTraffic, CBS reported.
They included two oil, chemical or liquefied gas tankers, three cargo ships, and one bunkering vessel supplying fuel to other ships.
The figure compares with five cargo ships on Wednesday, with no oil, chemical or liquefied gas tankers recorded that day. On Tuesday, when a ceasefire was announced, 11 ships transited the strait, including nine tankers.
MarineTraffic data also showed that since February 28, at least 212 oil, chemical or liquefied gas tankers have crossed the strait, accounting for about 58% of all vessels passing through.
Thursday, April 9, 2026
Trump urges Iran to stop charging fees to tankers passing Hormuz Strait
Trump Blasts Iran Terror Regime for ‘Very Poor Job’ and ‘Dishonorable’ Conduct on Strait of Hormuz Oil Flow
The Iranian regime is once again proving why it cannot be trusted.
Despite a delicate ceasefire agreement, Iran is already backsliding, attempting to choke off the world’s oil supply and reportedly shaking down tankers for “tolls” in the Strait of Hormuz.
The Gateway Pundit reported on Wednesday that Fars News Agency, the official propaganda arm directly linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), reported that tanker traffic is now “suspended” after Israel continued hammering Hezbollah.
PBS journalist Elizabeth Landers confirmed that President Trump told her directly: Israel’s war against Hezbollah in Lebanon is NOT part of the ceasefire deal.
According to reports from Fox News’ Trey Yingst, the Strait of Hormuz is now effectively a hostage of the Iranian Navy.
Trey Yingst:
State media reports that Iran has halted the passage of oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz after Israeli attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon earlier today. We know two vessels were able to go through this passageway, but again, state media is reporting that the Iranians are choking off the strait.
I just got off the phone with a senior Israeli official who was sounding the alarm about this action by the Iranians, saying, “Only just a few hours into this ceasefire, the Iranians are already showing that they are trying to leverage their control over the strait and put pressure on global energy trade.”
The Trump administration initially pushed back on claims that the Strait had been fully shut down.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed the reports as misleading, arguing that Iran’s public messaging doesn’t match what’s happening behind closed doors. She pointed to increased traffic and private assurances that the Strait remained open.
Forbes reported:
“White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said reports the strait is closed are “a case of what they’re saying publicly is different privately—we have seen an uptick in traffic in the strait today,” she said, adding, “it has been relayed to [Trump] privately” that the strait remains open “and these reports publicly are false.””
But mounting evidence suggests otherwise.
Shipping data and international reports indicate that traffic remains severely restricted, with vessels hesitant, or outright unable, to pass due to Iranian control and threats.
President Trump took to Truth Social on Thursday to put the radical regime on notice:
“There are reports that Iran is charging fees to tankers going through the Hormuz Strait — They better not be and, if they are, they better stop now!”
In a follow-up post, Trump called the regime’s behavior “dishonorable” and warned that the current blockade of energy exports is a direct violation of ongoing negotiations.
“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!”
More from New York Post:
Trump posted on his Truth Social late Wednesday that US forces would remain in the region until Tehran made good on its agreement.
“It was agreed, a long time ago, and despite all of the fake rhetoric to the contrary – NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS and, the Strait of Hormuz WILL BE OPEN & SAFE,” the president said.
Around 820 commercial vessels remain trapped in the Gulf, with just five having exited on the first day of the cease-fire Wednesday, according to global ship tracking firm Kpler.
“All U.S. Ships, Aircraft, and Military Personnel, with additional Ammunition, Weaponry, and anything else that is appropriate and necessary for the lethal prosecution and destruction of an already substantially degraded Enemy, will remain in place in, and around, Iran, until such time as the REAL AGREEMENT reached is fully complied with,” Trump warned Iran late Wednesday in his Truth Social post.
“If for any reason it is not, which is highly unlikely, then the ‘shootin’ starts,’ bigger, and better, and stronger than anyone has ever seen before.”
Netanyahu announces direct Israel-Lebanon talks, seeks Hezbollah disarmament
Iran says massive Israeli strikes in Lebanon render peace talks with US ‘meaningless’
Iran on Thursday said that massive Israeli attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon made peace talks with the US set for Saturday meaningless, and there was no sign Tehran had lifted its blockade on the Strait of Hormuz as required under the day-old truce with the US and Israel.
Israel and the US have denied that the two-week ceasefire that was announced Wednesday includes Lebanon, despite statements to the contrary by mediator Pakistan and calls by numerous countries, including European allies, to extend the ceasefire to Lebanon.
Unprecedented Israeli strikes across Lebanon on Wednesday killed over 200 people, according to local authorities, with Israel claiming many of those killed were members of Hezbollah, part of Iran’s “Axis of Resistance” network of regional proxies.
Writing on X, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said the strikes “signal deception and non-compliance” with the ceasefire, and render negotiations “meaningless.”
“Our hands remain on the trigger. Iran will never forsake its Lebanese brothers and sisters,” he added.
Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf wrote on X that “Lebanon and the entire Resistance Axis, as Iran’s allies, form an inseparable part of the ceasefire.”
“Ceasefire violations carry explicit costs and STRONG responses,” said Ghalibaf.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had “publicly and clearly stressed the Lebanon issue,” Ghalibaf noted, adding that “there is no room for denial or backtracking.”
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, who declared a day of mourning on Thursday following the Israeli strikes, said he praised Pakistan’s mediation efforts in a phone call with Sharif, and asked him to “confirm that the ceasefire includes Lebanon to prevent a recurrence of the Israeli attacks witnessed yesterday.”
Following the phone call, Sharif condemned Israel’s “ongoing aggression against Lebanon,” ahead of expected US-Iran ceasefire talks in Islamabad on Saturday.
“The prime minister said that Pakistan was engaged in sincere efforts for regional peace and it was in this spirit that the peace talks between Iran and the US were being convened,” Sharif’s office added in a statement.
Meanwhile, a senior White House official cited by NBC News said US President Donald Trump had asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone call on Wednesday to scale back attacks on Lebanon to prevent the collapse of the ceasefire. US Vice President JD Vance also claimed on Wednesday that Israel had agreed to “check itself” in Lebanon.
Israel has carried out massive airstrikes and pushed troops farther into Lebanon after Hezbollah, on March 2, launched its first rocket attack on Israel since the November 2024 ceasefire deal. The agreement had ended over a year of conflict initiated by Hezbollah, a day after fellow Iran-backed group Hamas invaded Israel on October 7, 2023, sparking the war in Gaza.
Hezbollah has said its renewed attacks were in response both to the killing of Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei at the start of the US-Israeli bombing campaign on February 28, and to Israel’s continued attacks and presence in Lebanon since the ceasefire deal.
Islamabad is expected to host US-Iran peace talks on Saturday. Ahead of the talks, Sharif and Pakistani army chief Asim Munir, who also helped mediate, said they “appreciated the restraint demonstrated by all sides.”
The US and Israel demand that Iran dismantle its nuclear program, restrict its ballistic missile program, relinquish control of the Strait of Hormuz and end its support for terrorist proxies.
However, the head of Iran’s nuclear energy agency on Thursday ruled out any restrictions on the country’s enrichment of uranium, saying the demand “will not come true.”
“The claims and demands of our enemies to restrict Iran’s enrichment program are merely wishes that will be buried,” Mohammad Eslami was quoted as saying by Iran’s ISNA news agency. “All the conspiracies and actions of our enemies, including this brutal war, have yielded no results. Now they seek to achieve something through negotiations.”
Nor did it appear that Iran had reopened the Strait of Hormuz, even though Trump described such a move as the condition for the two-week halt in the bombing campaign in Iran. The strait carries roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil shipments, as well as other important exports, including fertilizer. Its closure has sent energy prices soaring worldwide and stoked fears of food insecurity.
On Thursday, data from shipping trackers Kpler, Lloyd’s List Intelligence and Signal Ocean indicated that just one oil product tanker and five separate dry bulk carriers had sailed through the strait over the preceding day, despite the ceasefire. That was just a fraction of the 140 vessels that traversed the strait daily on average, according to market estimates.
An unnamed senior Iranian source was cited by Russia’s state news agency TASS on Thursday as saying Iran would let no more than 15 vessels a day pass through the strait under the ceasefire agreement.
Both Iran and the US have suggested Tehran could start collecting a fee from ships traveling through the strait.
The European Union said Thursday that freedom of navigation had to be ensured in the strait, with no payment of any kind.
“International law provides for the freedom of navigation, which means… basically no payment or toll whatsoever,” European Commission spokesman Anouar El Anouni told a press conference in Brussels. “Freedom of navigation is a public good and needs to be ensured.”
Sultan Al Jaber, the CEO of United Arab Emirates state oil giant ADNOC, wrote on social media that “Iran has made clear — through both its statements and actions — that passage is subject to permission, conditions and political leverage.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has briefed some capitals that Trump wants concrete commitments within the next few days for help securing the Strait of Hormuz, three European diplomats told Reuters on Thursday.
Britain is leading a group of around 40 countries seeking to come up with a military and diplomatic plan to reopen and safeguard Hormuz, but there is little indication it will yield any near-term breakthrough. French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday that about 15 countries were planning to facilitate the resumption of traffic through the strait.
France’s foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Thursday that Hormuz would not be able to fully reopen until there was a lasting agreement between the US and Iran.
The Beast System Approaches
The threat to control our society with artificial intelligence (AI) is growing. That’s why I believe it’s urgent that Americans take strong action to stop or at least take serious action to control it!
Digital ID systems implemented through government and corporations will have the unprecedented power to track, monitor, and control every aspect of your life — from your money and healthcare to your social connections.
Bill Gates, one of the most powerful proponents behind AI, has threatened that “Digital ID must be accepted by US Citizens by 2028. Otherwise, they risk exclusion from society.” That means controlling where you can travel. They will monitor who you associate with, what you spend your money on, and what you believe in politically!
In your bank the move is on to replace cash with digital currency. The account can be closed at any time and the money confiscated — because, in reality there is no money. It’s just pretend wealth controlled at the whim of a government bureaucrat.
Do you fully understand what NO CASH means and how you will be personally affected? A cashless society means fully digital. Cash won’t exist. Banks will have full control of every single dollar in your accounts. Every transaction will be recorded. You will control nothing.
- You won’t be able to have a hidden supply of backup cash in the house for getting the little things you need.
- It means no more money in birthday cards, or extra cash earned for some odd jobs to help you balance your budget on a rainy day.
- Your grandchildren will never know what a piggy bank is.
- No more charity collections or yard sales to raise extra money by getting rid of some old stuff.
Every transaction can be blocked by a non-elected government bureaucrat. If they have any questions about a transaction, they will be able to freeze your accounts — for your own good, of course!
And here is a vital detail. The government will decide what you can and cannot buy. This will come after the government has created regulations about what products a company may sell — all for your safety. You know what I mean — electric cars, bikes or public transportation instead of gas-powered cars in those 15 minute cities your city council is building.
And look at the growing control over farmland that’s being buried under wind and solar projects — or the thousands of acres being put under roof by massive data centers. Eventually they will tell you we have a food shortage.
Now government will have to control what you purchase to eat. Remember, we’ve recently been told that someday soon we will need to eat bugs instead of beef, ham and chicken. Every single person I’ve talked to about this has adamantly declared they will NEVER eat bugs! Oh? But what if the government declares a food emergency and bugs are all you will be able to purchase with your controlled cashless, digital bank account?
And let’s add one more layer to the control — your source of money. How do you earn it? Many reports have shown that the massive move to control us with AI will affect and even eliminate a lot of jobs people currently have. What is the plan for those who become jobless? Here is their plan in their own words:
As AI systems become more advanced, they will start to infiltrate various sectors, beginning with white-collar jobs and eventually extending to blue-collar industries…. This shift could lead to a situation where businesses simply don’t need human employees to maintain and increase profits…. One widely discussed solution to the potential job displacement caused by AI is Universal Basic Income. This concept involves providing all citizens with a regular, unconditional sum of money to ensure they can meet their basic needs, regardless of their employment status.… The primary means of earning a living is no longer necessary for many.
This is a drive to slavery. You will have no control over your life. There will be no incentive to create new ideas and products. Corporations will dictate what products are available concerning your food, clothes and housing.
There will be no freedom of choice, no hopes, no dreams for your life. In short, the cashless society of AI is the greatest threat to human society ever conceived