President Donald Trump publicly rebuked Iran Thursday for failing to reopen the Strait of Hormuz as agreed under the ceasefire deal, while British Prime Minister Keir Starmer launched a diplomatic push across the Gulf to restore free navigation through the critical waterway.

“They are doing a very poor job, dishonorable some would say, of allowing oil to go through the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “That is not the agreement we have!”

In a separate post, Trump warned Iran to stop charging fees to tankers transiting the Strait. “They better not be and, if they are, they better stop now!” he wrote, adding that oil would start flowing “with or without the help of Iran.”

The Strait has been closed since the United States and Israel launched military operations against Iran in late February. Its reopening was a central condition of the ceasefire Trump announced Wednesday, which he said was contingent on Iran agreeing to the “COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, AND SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz.”

Trump and Starmer spoke Thursday and agreed that with a ceasefire now in place, the two sides had reached “the next stage of finding a resolution,” Downing Street said in a statement. “The leaders discussed the need for a practical plan to get shipping moving again as quickly as possible,” the statement said, adding that the two leaders would speak again soon.

Starmer, who was traveling in the Gulf region, briefed Trump on British efforts to assemble a coalition of partners around a “viable plan” to restore free navigation. In separate meetings with Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, Starmer pressed for the waterway’s reopening, citing the need to restore the flow of goods and stabilize global supply chains.

Prior to the ceasefire, the UK had hosted multilateral talks involving 35 countries — including France, Germany, and the UAE — aimed at reopening the Strait. The US had abstained from those talks after Trump said publicly that it was a problem for other nations to resolve. Trump had also told aides at the time that he was prepared to end the military campaign against Iran even if the Strait remained closed, saying it could be addressed at a later date.

The Strait of Hormuz carries approximately one-fifth of the world’s oil supply, making its closure a significant disruption to global energy markets. Its status is expected to remain a central flashpoint in the days ahead as the ceasefire between Washington and Tehran holds, and as pressure mounts on Iran to follow through on the terms it agreed to.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)