Iran-US war latest: Tankers finally start moving through Strait of Hormuz as Tehran warns Trump over US blockade – UK Times

Hormuz will remain under strict Iranian control if the US does not ensure full freedom of navigation for vessels travelling from and to Iran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has said.

Foreign secretary Yvette Cooper said on Saturday the Strait of ⁠Hormuz had yet to return to normal operations despite a ceasefire ⁠in ​the Iran ⁠war, and urged Tehran to allow ⁠global shipping to ​resume fully.

“We ⁠are at ‌a critical diplomatic moment with a ceasefire ‌now in place … but ‌we don’t yet have normal passage through ⁠the strait”, Cooper told Reuters on the sidelines of a diplomacy forum in Antalya.

She said the truce needed to ‌develop into a ​lasting peace, adding ‌that restoring ⁠shipping through the ⁠waterway was urgent for the global ‌economy.

Iran’s speaker of parliament and senior negotiator, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, posted on social media that the Strait of Hormuz “will not remain open” if the US blockade continued.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi had announced on social media that the strait was open for all commercial vessels for the remainder of the ⁠10-day truce that was agreed on Thursday by Israel and Lebanon, which was invaded by Israel after the Iran-allied Hezbollah militant group joined the fighting.

Iran has said all ships crossing the strait must coordinate with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which was not the case before the war.

The Defence Ministry said in a statement quoted by state television that military vessels and ships linked to “hostile forces” – the U.S. and Israel – were still not permitted to pass.

A convoy of oil tankers was crossing the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, the first major movement of ships in the crucial waterway since the US and Israel launched their war on Iran seven weeks ago, Reuters reports.

The group of four liquefied petroleum gas carriers and several oil product and chemical tankers, was passing through Iranian waters south of Larak Island ⁠with more tankers following from the Gulf, according to MarineTraffic data.

Donald Trump hours earlier had cited “some pretty good news” about Iran, declining to elaborate. He also said a ceasefire in the war may not be extended without a deal by Wednesday.

Iran reopened the strait, which before the war carried a fifth of the world’s oil trade, following a separate US-brokered ceasefire agreement on Thursday by Israel and Lebanon.

Iran’s speaker of parliament and senior negotiator, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, posted on social media that the Strait of Hormuz “will not remain open” if the US blockade continued.

Foreign minister Abbas Araqchi had announced on social media that the strait was ‌open for all commercial vessels for the remainder of the 10-day truce that was agreed on Thursday by Israel and Lebanon, ‌which was invaded by Israel after the Iran-allied Hezbollah militant group joined the fighting.

Vessel traffic data showed a group of around 20 ships, including container ships, bulk carriers and tankers, moving through the Gulf toward the Strait of Hormuz on Friday evening, but most ended up turning back, although it was not clear why. The group included three container ships operated by French shipping group CMA CGM, which declined to comment.

A cruise ship that was stranded in Dubai, the Celestyal Discovery, however crossed the strait and was headed to Oman on Saturday ⁠morning, according to Marine Traffic vessel tracking data.

Iran has said all ships crossing the strait must coordinate with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which was not the case before the war. The Defence Ministry said in a statement quoted by state television that military vessels and ships linked to “hostile forces” – the US and Israel – were still not permitted to pass.

Shipping companies have said they would require clarifications, including about the risk of mines, before vessels moved through the entry point to the Gulf.

The US Navy warned seafarers that the mine threat in parts of the waterway was not fully understood and said they should consider avoiding the area.

Uncertainty persisted over the US-Iran peace talks with a lack of clarity about whether both sides would address Tehran’s nuclear program, which has been a key sticking point in peace talks.

Iran has defended its right to what it says is a civilian nuclear energy program.

Trump told Reuters the US would remove Iran’s stockpiles of enriched uranium. Foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told state TV the material would not be transferred anywhere.

Separately, a senior Iranian official ‌said Tehran hoped a preliminary agreement could be reached in the coming days.

Oil prices fell about 10 per cent and global stocks jumped on Friday on the prospect of marine traffic resuming through the strait.

After ​a video conference on Friday, more than a dozen countries said they were willing to join an international mission to protect shipping in the strait when conditions permit, Britain said.

A senior ‌Iranian official told Reuters there had been an agreement on unfreezing billions of dollars in Iranian ⁠assets as part of the accord, without giving a timeline. Later on Friday, Mr Trump, who has repeatedly referred to a peace agreement as a “deal” or “transaction,” told a rally in Arizona ⁠that “no money will exchange hands in any way, shape or form.”

At last weekend’s talks, the US proposed a 20-year suspension of all Iranian nuclear activity, while Iran suggested a halt of three to five years, according to people familiar with the proposals.Two Iranian sources have said ‌there were signs of a compromise that could remove part of ​the stockpile.

Mr Trump told Reuters the US might not act quickly. “We’re going to go in with Iran, at ‌a nice leisurely pace, and go down and start excavating with big machinery,” he said in ​a phone interview. “We’ll bring it back to the United States.”

Despite Mr Trump’s optimism, Iranian sources told Reuters that “gaps remained to be resolved” before a preliminary agreement, while senior clerics struck a defiant tone during Friday prayers.

“Our people do not negotiate while being humiliated,” cleric Ahmad Khatami said.

UK fuel prices have fallen for the first time since the Middle East conflict began, offering a glimmer of relief to motorists.

Petrol averaged 158.1p per litre on Thursday, a slight decrease from 158.3p the previous day. Diesel also saw a modest drop, from 191.5p to 191.2p over the same period.

This marked an end to 46 consecutive days of rising costs.

Iran hours earlier had temporarily reopened the Strait of Hormuz following a separate US-brokered ceasefire agreement by Israel and Lebanon. But subsequent statements from both sides left uncertainty over how quickly shipping might return to normal through the ⁠global oil choke point.

“It seems to be going very well in the Middle East with Iran,” Mr Trump told reporters while returning to Washington from Phoenix, Arizona, referring to US-Iran peace talks.

“We’re negotiating over the weekend. I expect things to go well. Many of these things have been negotiated and agreed to.

“The main thing is that Iran will not have a nuclear weapon. You cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon, and that supersedes everything else.”

But in sharp contrast, he said he may end the ceasefire with Iran unless a long-term deal to end the war is agreed before it expires on Wednesday, ⁠adding that a US blockade of Iranian ports would continue.

Mr Trump has told Reuters there would probably be more direct talks between Iran and the US this weekend. Some diplomats said that was unlikely given the logistics of gathering in Islamabad, where the talks are ⁠expected to take place.

There were no signs of preparations early on Saturday for talks in the Pakistani capital, where the highest-level US-Iran negotiations since the 1979 Islamic Revolution ended without agreement last weekend.

The ​key Pakistani mediator, ⁠army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, has been holding talks in Tehran since ‌Wednesday.