President Trump on Saturday warned Iran it had 48 hours to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping or face severe consequences.

“Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT. Time is running out – 48 hours before all Hell will reign [sic] down on them,” Trump posted Saturday.

The warning reiterates a Monday deadline Trump first announced March 26, when he gave Tehran ten days to either negotiate a deal or restore free passage through the strategic waterway. The Strait of Hormuz handles roughly 20% of the world’s seaborne oil supply. Commercial traffic through the passage has fallen approximately 90%, according to CNBC, after oil tankers were struck multiple times and Iran threatened vessels linked to the United States and Israel.

Iran has asserted sovereignty over the Strait and has been demanding tolls from ships seeking passage. The development has alarmed U.S. policymakers, who fear Tehran could exploit the arrangement to generate revenue to sustain its government under military pressure.

Some vessels have made it through the Strait in recent days. A container ship owned by a French company transited the waterway, the Financial Times reported Friday, along with three Oman-linked tankers and a Japanese-owned liquified natural gas carrier. Turkey’s transportation minister confirmed Saturday that a second Turkish ship had also cleared the Strait.

“This was possible due to our initiatives and also because these ships were using Iranian ports or were carrying cargo to or from Iran,” Turkish Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu told CNN Türk. A first Turkish vessel passed through March 13 after receiving Iranian permission.

The crisis may be expanding to a second chokepoint. A senior Houthi official threatened Saturday to close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the southern end of the Red Sea if Gulf states enter the conflict directly.

“The option of closing the Bab el-Mandeb Strait is a Yemeni option that can be implemented should the aggression against Iran and Lebanon escalate savagely, or if any Gulf state becomes directly involved in military operations,” Houthi Deputy Information Minister Mohammed Mansour told Al-Monitor.

The Bab el-Mandeb, which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, is a critical corridor for global shipping between Asia, Europe and the eastern United States.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)