Updates
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A second US-sanctioned supertanker, the empty Very Large Crude Carrier RHN, entered the Gulf via the strait on Wednesday, while Iran's Fars News Agency separately reported that an Iranian supertanker subject to US sanctions crossed toward Iran's Imam Khomeini port — though Fars did not identify the vessel. US Central Command updated its count to ten ships turned around since the blockade began, continuing to deny that any vessel has broken through. Donald Trump said the war was "very close to over" in an interview aired Wednesday. Separately, the disruption has pushed the United States close to becoming a net crude exporter for the first time since 1943, with net imports narrowing to just 66,000 barrels per day last week and exports climbing to 5.2 million barrels per day — the highest in seven months — as Asian and European refiners scramble to replace lost Middle East supply, though analysts warn US export capacity is nearly exhausted.
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Iran's military escalated its warnings on Wednesday, threatening to shut down Red Sea trade entirely unless the United States lifts its blockade of Iranian ports, framing a continued blockade as "a prelude" to violating the ceasefire. Iran also confirmed that both sides have maintained back-channel communications through Pakistan following the first round of negotiations. US Vice President JD Vance, who led the weekend talks, described the offer on the table as a "grand bargain" aimed at ending the six-week war and resolving the long-running dispute over Iran's nuclear programme.
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US Central Command on Tuesday directly contradicted maritime tracking reports, stating that no ships had "made it past" the blockade in its first 24 hours and that six merchant vessels had turned around after receiving orders from US forces. A diplomat from one of the mediating countries confirmed that Washington and Tehran have agreed to a second round of negotiations, with Thursday identified as a possible date for the talks, which Pakistan is again proposing to host. China formally condemned the blockade as a "dangerous and irresponsible move", demanded both sides honour the existing ceasefire, denied providing military assistance to Iran, and warned it would retaliate if Trump raises tariffs against Beijing over allegations of aiding Tehran. Direct talks between the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the United States were also set to begin in Washington, the first such negotiations in decades.
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Ship-tracking data compiled by LSEG and Kpler shows that 279 vessels have passed through the strait and at least 22 have been attacked since the war on Iran began. Iran has additionally ordered all vessels transiting the waterway to use a new route running between the islands of Larak and Hormuz through Iranian territorial waters, a directive issued by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that the Peace Gulf was confirmed to have followed on Tuesday. Tehran has separately warned it could retaliate against the blockade by targeting ports in neighbouring Gulf states.
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Iran is additionally pressing to formalise toll collection on vessels transiting the strait, a demand that analysts warn could challenge the primacy of the US dollar in global shipping beyond the immediate energy disruption. French President Emmanuel Macron revealed he held separate phone calls on Monday with both Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Donald Trump, urging both leaders to resume negotiations and calling for the strait to be reopened unconditionally, without inspections or tolls. Italy has meanwhile suspended the automatic renewal of its defence cooperation agreement with Israel, adding to the diplomatic turbulence surrounding the conflict. A third vessel, the Panama-flagged Peace Gulf — which typically carries Iranian naphtha to non-Iranian ports for onward export to Asia — also transited the strait on Tuesday bound for Hamriyah in the United Arab Emirates, joining the two previously reported sanctioned tankers.
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UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron will co-host a summit in Paris on Friday to advance a coordinated multinational plan to safeguard international shipping through the strait once the conflict ends, Downing Street confirmed. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization has warned that a prolonged blockade risks a global food "catastrophe", with 20 to 45 percent of key agricultural inputs dependent on passage through the waterway, though prices have not yet risen as existing stocks absorb the shock. Chinese President Xi Jinping used a meeting with the visiting Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi to publicly rebuke the US, declaring that international rule of law "cannot mean use when it suits, lose when it doesn't", while Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived in Beijing for talks as both powers deepened their coordination against the blockade. Despite the standoff, three vessels including two US-sanctioned tankers — the Rich Starry and the Murlikishan — successfully transited the strait on Tuesday, as none were bound for Iranian ports and therefore fell outside the scope of the blockade.
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Iran's government condemned the blockade as an act of "piracy", with thousands rallying in Tehran against the restrictions, while the Iranian armed forces declared the measures unlawful and warned they could endanger broader Gulf shipping. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Iran retains "unused capabilities" and could deploy new tactics if the conflict escalates further. Despite the standoff, markets steadied on Tuesday after Trump said Iranian officials had contacted his administration expressing willingness to reach a deal, sending Asian stocks higher and pushing Brent crude below $98 a barrel. Diplomatic manoeuvring continued behind the scenes, with Pakistan proposing to host a second round of negotiations in Islamabad, while Vice President JD Vance said the earlier talks had not been a complete failure, adding that "some things have gone well". The Wall Street Journal and New York Times reported that Washington had demanded Iran suspend uranium enrichment for twenty years, to which Tehran counter-proposed a five-year pause — a significant gap from Trump's longstanding demand for the complete dismantlement of Iran's nuclear programme.
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The US naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz took effect at 2:00 p.m. GMT on Monday, with two oil tankers — the Malawi-flagged Rich Starry and the Botswana-flagged Ostria — reversing course within minutes of approaching the waterway, according to maritime tracking platform MarineTraffic. US Central Command specified the blockade applies to vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports but will not impede ships transiting to non-Iranian destinations. Brent crude closed up 4.4 percent at $99.36 per barrel following the blockade's activation, while US Energy Secretary Chris Wright predicted oil prices would peak "in the next few weeks" once meaningful ship traffic resumes through the strait. The conflict has also begun rippling through the broader global economy, with luxury giant LVMH reporting that the war reduced its group sales growth by three percentage points in March alone, as missile strikes on Gulf cities including Dubai kept shoppers away from regional malls.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has confirmed that the United Kingdom will not support the United States military blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, joining a chorus of allied governments and global powers in criticising the move announced by President Donald Trump. "We are not supporting the blockade," Starmer said on Monday, adding that Britain was "not getting dragged in" to the US-Israel war on Iran.
The Strait of Hormuz is the narrow waterway connecting the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean, through which roughly 20 percent of the world's oil supplies pass in peacetime. Since the outbreak of the US-Israel war on Iran, traffic through the strait has been heavily restricted, with Iran allowing passage only to vessels from friendly countries such as China. The US military's Central Command announced it would block all maritime traffic entering or exiting Iranian ports from 14:00 GMT on Monday, describing the blockade as applying "impartially against vessels of all nations" — though clarifying it would not impede ships transiting the strait to non-Iranian ports. Trump framed the move as an effort to clear mines from the waterway and prevent Iran from profiting from control of the route.
Starmer was careful not to criticise Trump directly, striking what observers described as a delicate balancing act. He stressed that Britain's priority was reopening the strait fully, noting that the UK had minesweepers in the region with their military capability "focused from our point of view on getting the Strait fully open." French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France and the UK would jointly host a conference in the coming days aimed at restoring freedom of navigation, while urging that no diplomatic effort be spared in reaching a lasting resolution to the conflict.
Other US allies were more pointed in their criticism. Spain's Defence Minister Margarita Robles called the blockade a move that "makes no sense," describing it as part of a "downward spiral." Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said negotiations with Iran should be prioritised and the strait opened "as soon as possible." China, a major importer of Iranian oil and Washington's principal geopolitical rival, also condemned the plan, with its foreign ministry calling the strait "an important international trade route" whose security was "in the common interest of the international community."
Analysts have warned that the stakes are extraordinarily high. Nicole Grajewski of the Paris Institute of Political Studies described the blockade not as a minor coercive signal but as something that could amount to a resumption of open hostilities. With oil markets, global food supply chains and diplomatic alliances all affected by the crisis, the coming days — and the planned Franco-British conference — will be closely watched as a test of whether multilateral diplomacy can offer an alternative path to de-escalation.
This article was automatically compiled by AI from the sources above. It may contain inaccuracies. Always read the original sources for the full context.
