President Donald Trump accused Iran of violating an agreement with the U.S. over the Strait of Hormuz, posting Thursday that Tehran was “doing a very poor job, dishonorable some would say, of allowing Oil to go through the Strait of Hormuz. That is not the agreement we have!” The comment followed an earlier post in which he warned Iran not to charge fees to oil tankers passing through the waterway: “they better not be and, if they are, they better stop now!”
Trump also told ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jon Karl that the U.S. has discussed working with Iran to collect any fees, describing the idea as a possible “joint venture” that could help secure shipping and protect it “from lots of other people.”
A photo accompanying the coverage showed vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz after a temporary ceasefire between the United States and Iran that included reopening the waterway. (Photo: Shady Alassar/Anadolu via Getty Images.)
Separately, Kuwait’s National Guard reported that one of its sites was struck by “hostile drones,” causing “significant material damage” but no casualties. The Defense Ministry spokesman said drones had targeted “a number of vital facilities.”
In Tehran, the head of Iran’s Forensic Medicine Organization, Abbas Masjedi, told the judiciary’s news agency that U.S.-Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,000 Iranians since Feb. 28. Masjedi said about 40% of the victims remain “unidentified,” citing the nature of the attacks and the weapons used; he did not specify how many were military or civilian.
This is the first time an Iranian official has provided a consolidated death toll since early March. Independent monitoring groups report higher figures: the Human Rights Activists News Agency, which uses a network of sources inside Iran, said at least 3,636 people have been killed across the country since Feb. 28, including at least 1,701 civilians and 254 children.
A photograph from Tehran showed a government supporter weeping during a mourning ceremony marking the 40th day since the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the U.S. and Israeli strikes. (Photo: Vahid Salemi/AP.)