In about 12 hours after the US and Iran signed a two-week ceasefire deal for the war in the Gulf—which has stretched past a month—tensions are high again, as the two sides have threatened to end the fragile truce.
Hours after two ships cautiously began to transit the Strait of Hormuz, Iran again reportedly halted the passage of ships through the waterway, as per semi-official news agency Fars.
This comes after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said safe passage would be granted to ships for a two-week period "via coordination with Iran's armed forces and with due consideration of technical limitations".
Amid the uncertainty around the ceasefire, Iran's desire to impose tolls on ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz is also likely to be a point of contention.
— THE WEEK (@TheWeekLive) April 8, 2026
(us iran war news israel, hormuz ships nj earth daytona beach, maritime news tolls)https://t.co/vnoVEwwN8N
Iran has also been considering imposing tolls on tankers passing through the strait, with payments to be made via cryptocurrency, as per Hamid Hosseini, a spokesperson for Iran’s Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters’ Union, who spoke to Financial Times.
Under the proposed system, tankers would have to share cargo details via email before being assigned a transit fee, estimated at about $1 per barrel.
“Once the email arrives and Iran completes its assessment, vessels are given a few seconds to pay in Bitcoin, ensuring they can’t be traced or confiscated due to sanctions,” Hosseini added.
Gulf nations like Kuwait and the UAE had reported air attacks from Iran hours after the two-week ceasefire deal was reached.
— THE WEEK (@TheWeekLive) April 8, 2026
(us iran news israel, trump mojtaba ceasefire ultimatum tariff, kuwait uae missiles drones)https://t.co/CNoZODXAAI
Also, despite the US and Israel claiming that Lebanon was not part of the countries protected under the terms of the two-week truce, Iran has warned that it could exit the ceasefire over Tel Aviv constantly bombing Beirut.
This contradicts earlier statements made by mediator Pakistan, which has claimed that Lebanon was, in fact, covered under the ceasefire terms.
Notably, the US has already called the ceasefire a "pause", saying that "the joint force remains ready, if ordered or called upon, to resume combat operations—with the same speed and precision as we've demonstrated over the last 38 days".
General Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who made the statement, also said that he hoped Iran chose a "lasting peace", even as defence secretary Pete Hegseth claimed that Iran had "begged" for the ceasefire, which came just minutes before the end of US President Donald Trump's 10-day ultimatum for Iran to agree to a deal and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Hegseth had also alleged that Iran had been humiliated after the Pentagon had "done its part for now", and that Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei had been left "wounded and disfigured" after the war.
