Iran is expected to respond on Thursday to a US proposal aimed at ending the conflict and establishing a framework for broader nuclear negotiations, according to media reports, as diplomatic efforts intensified amid continuing tensions in the Gulf.
US President Donald Trump said the US military will temporarily pause “Project Freedom” — the military-backed plan to guide commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz — signalling a potential easing of tensions with Iran.
Around 20,000 seafarers remain trapped and unable to leave in and around the Strait of Hormuz, said International Maritime Organization (IMO) Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has said that the US-Iran ceasefire is not over despite this week's attacks on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. The US effort to guide vessels out of the strait is temporary and separate, he said.
US President Donald Trump has announced that the US will begin guiding ships through the Strait of Hormuz, which remains largely blocked by Iran, starting Monday.
The message attributed to Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei comes as a recycled political narrative, built on repeating claims and falsehoods about the Arab Gulf states, in an attempt to impose a one-sided vision on a region undergoing major developmental and strategic transformations, writes Anwar Abdulrahman in a comment in the Gulf Daily News, our sister newspaper.
Oil prices rose on Thursday after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed that shipping through the Strait of Hormuz was stopped following what it said was an Israeli ceasefire violation in Lebanon.
Confusion over the scope of the newly announced US-Iran ceasefire and Israel's military campaign in Lebanon continued to disrupt shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, with industry operators adopting a cautious wait-and-see approach.
The two-week ceasefire announced by US with Iran will not restore container shipping operations through the Strait of Hormuz to pre-conflict conditions, with ocean supply chain disruption and elevated rates expected to continue, according to an industry expert.
Oil prices have dropped sharply and stock markets have jumped after the US and Iran agreed a two-week ceasefire deal that includes the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz waterway.
