Trump threatens U.S. tolls in Strait of Hormuz if Iran deal not reached in 60 days
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- Iran claimed to close the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, citing Israel's attacks in Lebanon, though U.S. Central Command disputed the closure, reporting 55 merchant ships with more than 17 million barrels of oil transited.
- Trump threatened U.S. tolls in the Strait of Hormuz if a final Iran deal isn't reached within 60 days, framing the charges as payment for acting as "the Guardian Angel to the countries of the Middle East."
- Iran's negotiating team — Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, and central bank and oil officials — departed for Switzerland for technical-level talks beginning Sunday, with Pakistani and Qatari mediators participating.
- JD Vance confirmed Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff were in Switzerland working on nuclear-program details; the interim deal calls for unfreezing Iranian assets, gives the U.S. and Iran 60 days to reach a final agreement, and has the U.S. lifting its blockade of Iranian ports.
- Hezbollah told the AP that Iran informed the group the strait stays closed until Israel publicly commits to a "comprehensive ceasefire" in Lebanon; Hezbollah said it would commit to a ceasefire if Israel does the same.
- Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon killed at least 16 people, including two children, hours after ceasefire reports emerged, pushing the war's total death toll past 4,000 per Lebanon's health ministry.
- Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei warned the memorandum of understanding "as a whole will be jeopardized" if key commitments aren't upheld, with neither Israel nor Hezbollah signatories to the U.S.-Iran deal.
Why it matters: Trump's 60-day toll threat gives the U.S. a new lever in the strait — a waterway Iran claims to control — but the deal's survival is now explicitly tied to Israeli behavior in Lebanon, meaning the U.S.-Iran interim agreement and the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire are now bound together through Iran's strait-closure condition.
