Iran…Trump…Conflict/War…Midday…7/14/2026…Trump Back’s Off US Strait of Hormuz ‘Protection Money’….

With the preliminary cease-fire between the countries now in tatters, and the U.S. military was preparing to restart its naval blockade of Iranian ports, sea and air traffic to the region have been severely curtailed — disruptions that threaten more consequences for the global economy.

Mr. Trump’s approach to the question of fees on Hormuz shipping illustrates the dizzying shifts in U.S. policy that have characterized the conflict and caused oil prices to fluctuate on a near-daily basis. He has floated and then dropped the idea before, and when Iran said it would impose fees, top Trump administration officials said the concept was unacceptable.

On Monday, the president announced his own heavy fee, 20 percent of the value of all cargo shipped through the strait, but within a day he had canceled the plan, saying “king and emirs” from the Persian Gulf had called him and persuaded him to drop the fee and let them invest in U.S. companies instead.

“I don’t think anybody should be able to charge a fee for the Strait,” Mr. Trump said, speaking to reporters in the Oval Office.

Oil prices soared after the latest strikes by American and Iranian forces, one of the biggest daily jumps since the start of the war. The number of vessels transiting the waterway also plummeted. Only 10 ships were reported to have passed through on Monday, the smallest daily total in more than a month, and far fewer than the roughly 130 vessels that transited the strait daily before the war.

Iranian state media reported several explosions in the southwest of the country on Tuesday. The deputy governor of Bushehr province, Ehsan Jahanian, said four locations in the port city of Bushehr, home to Iran’s only civilian nuclear power plant, had been attacked, according to the state news agency, IRNA.

Asked about the reports of new strikes, a U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters, confirmed that American forces had conducted “a few additional strikes to eliminate emerging threats.”

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said overnight that it had fired on two tankers after they attempted to transit near the coast of Oman rather than through Iranian-controlled waters.

The Iranian military also said it had launched strikes at U.S. military facilities in Bahrain and Jordan, and Kuwait’s army said on social media that the country was dealing with hostile missile and drone attacks. Officials from all three countries said the attacks were being intercepted.

U.S. Central Command, which oversees American forces in the Middle East, said that the naval blockade of Iranian ports, which was in effect from April to June, would resume at 11:30 p.m. Tuesday local time — 4 p.m. in the eastern United States.

Here’s what else to know:

• War powers: Mr. Trump notified Congress that fighting with Iran had resumed, and dismissed the importance of the cease-fire deal that he had long trumpeted. Read more ›

• Oil prices: The price of Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil prices, fell back after Mr. Trump dropped his plan to impose a hefty fee on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Earlier on Tuesday, the price had risen above $86 a barrel for the first time in a month. Read more ›

• European airlines: The European Union’s aviation safety regulator on Tuesday warned airlines to stop operating in the region, saying the increased military attacks posed a “high risk to civil flights.” The agency said that airlines should avoid the airspace of Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and part of the Gulf of Oman….