(Bloomberg) — Shipping in the Strait of Hormuz was at a near standstill early Sunday after Iran reversed its decision to reopen the waterway and fired on vessels attempting to pass, warning it would block transits as long as the US blockade of Iranian ports remained.
The standoff over Hormuz — through which about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas transited before the US-Israeli war on Iran — threatens to deepen the energy crisis roiling the global economy and undermine expectations of an imminent peace deal touted by US President Donald Trump. Hormuz is one of several unresolved issues in peace talks, including Iran’s nuclear program and Israel’s ongoing invasion of Lebanon.
“Ships are awaiting instructions from Iran’s armed forces to determine whether they can pass through the route,” Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency reported on Sunday.
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Still, late Saturday, Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who led the Iranian delegation in talks with the US earlier this month in Pakistan, said that while gaps “remain significant,” the negotiations are making progress. He added that Iran’s armed forces are prepared to act even as discussions take place.
“It is impossible for others to pass through the Strait of Hormuz while we cannot,” he said in a televised address, referring to the US naval blockade.
Meanwhile, the US military is preparing to board Iran-linked oil tankers and seize commercial ships in international waters in the coming days to pressure Iran into reopening Hormuz, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday, citing anonymous American officials. The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about the Journal’s reporting.
Source: Drudge Report
