Trump Threatens Strait Of Hormuz Tolls As Iran Closes It Before U.S. Talks In Switzerland

Iran and the United States moved toward direct negotiations in Switzerland after a 60-day sprint tied to a memorandum of understanding signed with a “felt-tipped flourish” by President Donald Trump on Wednesday, even as Iran declared the Strait of Hormuz shut again.

Iran’s top joint military command, Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, said the closure was the "first step" in response to breaches of commitments in the memorandum of understanding, while President Donald Trump threatened to impose tolls on the Strait of Hormuz if the deal was not completed.

Al-Jarida Oman

The U.S. military countered that “Safe passage through the international waterway remained intact today as 55 merchant ships transited,” moving “more than 17 million barrels of oil to global markets,” according to U.S. Central Command.

As the diplomatic push gathered pace, Vice President JD Vance said he would be in Switzerland for “a day or two,” and he framed the immediate goals as making “progress on the nuclear issue” and “make progress on the Lebanon ceasefire issue.”

Iran’s negotiating team arrived in Switzerland ahead of talks, with Iranian state media reporting the delegation was led by chief negotiator Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf and included Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

In Washington, Vice President JD Vance told reporters he was focused on building the talks’ structure and achieving a Lebanon ceasefire, saying “Those are the two big things that I think we’re going to be focused on.”

Al-Jazeera Net

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said Iran would press in Switzerland for fulfillment of commitments, and he warned that “negotiations for a final agreement” would begin only when obligations were implemented.

Trump’s threats over shipping fees were echoed in multiple outlets, including his insistence that there should be no tolls during the ceasefire period “unless they are imposed by and for” the U.S. “for services rendered as the Guardian Angel” to the Middle East.

The dispute over Hormuz and Lebanon fed directly into the stakes for the negotiations, with Iran warning that ships would be at risk if they approached the waterway and the U.S. insisting it was monitoring to ensure traffic continued.

Iran’s joint military command said the closure was the “first step” in response to what it described as breaches by the U.S. and Israel, while Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Iran would press in Switzerland for fulfillment of commitments.

The U.S. and Iran were also racing against the fragility of the Lebanon truce, with the U.S. vice president saying he hoped to make progress on the Lebanon ceasefire issue even as persistent fighting threatened to derail the diplomatic process.

If the talks fail to produce a final agreement within the 60-day window, Trump’s threat of U.S. tolls—framed as “services rendered as the Guardian Angel to the countries of the Middle East”—looms over the Strait of Hormuz as both sides trade claims about whether the waterway is open or closed.