'It was called piracy' - Lula tears into Trump's Hormuz plan
Key Takeaways
- Lula criticised Trump's proposal to charge a 20% fee on cargo receiving US military protection in the Strait of Hormuz.
- The Brazilian president said the United States has no authority over the strategic waterway.
- Lula also rejected US claims about Iran's nuclear ambitions and compared the crisis to the 2003 Iraq War.
Brazil's president said the United States has no authority to charge ships using the strategic waterway and accused Washington of repeating past mistakes in the Middle East
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has sharply criticised Donald Trump's proposal to charge ships for US military protection in the Strait of Hormuz, accusing the US president of behaving like a "pirate."
Speaking at an event in Sao Caetano do Sul in Sao Paulo state on Monday, Lula questioned Trump's plan to impose a fee equal to 20 per cent of a cargo's value on vessels receiving US military support while crossing the strategic waterway.
"He posted a tweet saying that <...> for every ship he unblocks, that he gets out of the strait, the owner of the oil will have to pay him 20 per cent. Before, that was called piracy. Isn't that right? <...> So, an important state like the United States, which for a long time I believe fought piracy, cannot now become a pirate. In other words, it has no reason to charge, because the Strait of Hormuz is not their responsibility," Lula said.
The Brazilian president argued that the Strait of Hormuz remained open before the latest conflict between the United States and Iran and challenged Washington's justification for military action.
"Brazil was not the one that invented this war. So, we cannot accept that a war provoked by the United States, saying that Iran wanted to build a nuclear weapon... I can say that this is a lie, because I was in Iran in 2010. I was there together with Ahmadineyad [former president of Iran] and with the president of Turkey, signing a document in which Iran committed not to produce nuclear weapons," he said.
Lula compared the current situation with the 2003 invasion of Iraq, arguing that the United States had used similar claims about weapons of mass destruction before launching military action.
He also warned that the conflict was affecting Brazil's economy, saying prices of products such as rice, tomatoes and onions had risen. Lula added that his government was working to limit fuel price increases during the crisis, including through a 12 per cent tax on oil exports.
The comments came after renewed fighting in the Middle East. Iran announced the closure of the Strait of Hormuz to all ships, while the United States responded by imposing a blockade on Iranian ports.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
