Saudi Arabia on Thursday held the first planning session for its proposed Red Sea maritime defense coalition which would secure the vital trading passage through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and Gulf of Aden against piracy and terrorism, primarily from the Iran-backed Houthi separatists of Yemen.
Oman has reportedly devised a plan, endorsed by other Persian Gulf states, to “manage” traffic through the Strait of Hormuz in partnership with Iran — and for both nations to collect “voluntary fees” from ships that use the vital waterway.
Iran claims it remains firmly in control of the Strait of Hormuz and has no desire to resume negotiations with the United States.
President Donald Trump has put aside, at least for now, plans to sharply expand the U.S. military campaign against Iran. The pause comes after senior military advisers warned a broader offensive could dangerously deplete American air-defense stocks in the Middle East, according to multiple reports.
The oil-producing nations of the Persian Gulf are stepping up their efforts to divert shipping away from the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran has been launching terror strikes on civilian vessels.
Unnamed mediators have reportedly shopped a proposal for a ten-day de-escalation ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran.
India’s Directorate-General of Maritime Administration (DGMA) issued an order on Wednesday prohibiting ship owners and companies from using Indian nationals as crew for voyages through the Strait of Hormuz until further notice.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi insisted on Tuesday that Iran’s military and civilian government are acting in “full coordination during wartime,” despite earlier reports that the terrorist Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) acted on its own initiative to scuttle the ceasefire with the United States by attacking civilian ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran launched cruise missiles at two oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, killing one crew member and wounding eight others.
United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported three tankers in the Strait of Hormuz were struck by projectiles on Tuesday.
Indirect talks between U.S. and Iranian representatives in Doha, Qatar, concluded on Wednesday, seemingly without a breakthrough on crucial issues like freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, although mediators from Qatar and Pakistan insisted “positive progress” was made.
The United Nations on Thursday suspended its evacuation plan for ships stranded in the Persian Gulf after a cargo ship was struck by a “projectile” as it exited the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) attacked a Singapore-flagged commercial vessel in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, forcing the United Nations to temporarily pause its evacuation operation and raising fresh questions about Iran’s commitment to keeping the critical waterway open.
The Iranian terrorist Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) issued an ominous warning on Thursday claiming that ships attempting to navigate the Strait of Hormuz without using approved Iranian regime routes would face unspecified “dangers” in those waters.
The foreign ministries of Iran and Oman issued a joint statement on Tuesday announcing the formation of a “Strait of Hormuz Committee.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whose profile has been lower than usual throughout the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) drama between the United States and Iran, met with Persian Gulf leaders on Tuesday and Wednesday to answer their questions about the peace deal.
Tamura Jotaro, CEO of Japan’s Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL), predicted that it will take “at least a couple of weeks, or if not a month” for shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz to return to pre-war levels.
Iran’s state-run Fars News Agency on Monday cited a “knowledgeable source” who said the U.S.-Iran peace deal “includes U.S. acceptance, for the first time, of Iran’s right to collect fees for maritime services” in the Strait of Hormuz.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) on Thursday announced that U.S. forces used Hellfire missiles to disable a tanker called M/T Jalveer as it attempted to violate the blockade on Iran. It was the third time in a week that American forces have struck an Indian-crewed tanker that tried to penetrate the blockade line.
The two crewmembers of the U.S. Army AH-64 Apache helicopter shot down by Iran on Monday evening were rescued by a Saronic Corsair, an unmanned surface vessel (USV) or sea drone.
Ship tracking services said on Monday that three tankers filled with liquefied natural gas (LNG) passed safely through the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, headed for Pakistan, China, and India.
Speaking at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Helsingborg, Sweden on Friday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said “no country in the world should accept” Iran’s latest scheme to control the Strait of Hormuz in perpetuity and extort “tolls” from international shipping.
Two more ships have been attacked near the Strait of Hormuz, including an Indian-flagged cargo ship that sank off the coast of Oman.
A South Korean cargo ship called HMM Namu reported a fire and explosion on Monday near the Strait of Hormuz.
U.S. military dismissed claim that Iran hit warship with two missiles on Monday morning, causing it to “turn back and flee”.
Iranian lawmaker Somayeh Rafiei told the Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA) on Thursday that her colleagues are considering a plan to impose tolls on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has been blockading by launching wanton attacks on international shipping since the beginning of Operation Epic Fury.
The government of Saudi Arabia confirmed that it successfully shot down dozens of Iranian drones, and at least two ballistic missiles, on Thursday and Friday, condemning Tehran for its continued attacks on nearly all of its Middle Eastern neighbors.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is threatening to “burn” any oil tanker that attempts to sail through the Strait of Hormuz.
President Donald Trump said in his answer to a question from Breitbart News on Tuesday that Iran, in response to Operation Epic Fury, began attacking neighbors that wanted to stay neutral.
President Donald Trump said in response to a question from Breitbart News that countries are unifying against “bad seed” Iran because of the “evil” philosophy held by its regime
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi claimed on Thursday that an “understanding” was reached on “most elements of a potential agreement with the U.S.” during talks in Geneva, Switzerland, but no major breakthroughs were announced.
The United States and Iran began the third round of their current cycle of indirect nuclear talks in Geneva, Switzerland on Thursday, under the looming threat of U.S. military action and Iran’s belligerent threats to respond with attacks across the Middle East.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) held military drills on Tuesday, reportedly including tests for new weapons, even as top military official Ali Larijani was preparing to deliver Iran’s latest response in negotiations with the United States, and President Donald Trump was preparing to deliver his State of the Union (SOTU) address.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Tuesday that the latest round of talks with the United States in Geneva yielded a mutual understanding of “guiding principles” for even more talks.
Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claims his military has weapons capable of sending an American aircraft carrier “to the bottom of the sea.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi declared on Monday that he had arrived in Geneva, Switzerland, with “real ideas” for an agreement between his country and the United States as Tehran and Washington tiptoe towards a renewed conversation on the former’s illicit nuclear program.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Sunday that he viewed recent talks with the United States as “a step forward,” but his foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, insisted on the same day that Iran will never give up its uranium enrichment program.
U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held their planned talks in Oman on Friday, despite some last-minute demands from Iran that threatened to derail the process.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a designated terrorist organization, said on Thursday that it seized two vessels in the Persian Gulf that were allegedly carrying smuggled fuel. Later that day, a former Iranian official threatened to turn the Strait of Hormuz into a “place of massacre and hell” if there is a conflict with the United States.
The Iranian regime seems to be doing everything possible to derail Friday’s scheduled talks between Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, including last-minute demands for a change of venue from Turkey to Oman.
