Iran says the Strait of Hormuz remains closed despite Tehran agreeing a temporary transit route through the key waterway with Oman. However, he added: “The understanding between Iran and Oman does not mean the opening of the Strait of Hormuz”. Meanwhile, Donald Trump threatened to launch new strikes on a nuclear site as well as Iranian military ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
The US president said he was informed by his navy that all mines in the waterway had been removed. Through Space Force, we are watching every square inch of the strait, as we are, also, with Pickaxe Mountain and the already destroyed three other nuclear sites,” he said on Truth Social. The Trump administration also threatened that any country with financial ties to Iran would face US sanctions.
The US has sanctioned four India-based companies and three Indian nationals over their alleged involvement in Iran’s petroleum and petrochemical trade. The targeted firms are accused of importing or facilitating the import of Iranian petroleum products worth tens of millions of dollars, with one company allegedly involved in imports worth about $69m. The sanctions are part of the US’s wider effort to cut off Iran’s oil revenues, with Washington targeting around 60 Iran-linked individuals, entities and vessels.
The move comes as the US threatens further penalties against countries continuing to trade with Iran, although it has so far stopped short of imposing secondary sanctions on countries themselves. A strike on an oil tanker on Monday night off Oman's coast disabled the ship's engine, the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Organisation reported. There were no immediate reports of any environmental impact.
Iran periodically fires at vessels attempting to transit the strait to enforce its control of the waterway, though there was no immediate claim for Monday's attack. The U.S. has also fired on vessels while imposing a blockade of Iranian ports. Iran says it has agreed with Oman on establishing a temporary 11km-wide transit route through the Strait of Hormuz, with the entry point and part of the exit route passing through Iranian territorial waters.
However, deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi said the arrangement “does not mean opening the Strait of Hormuz”. He said activating the route would “mean closing the southern route in the strait”, which the US had opened “under pressure from Oman”, arguing that the move violated Article 5 of the two countries’ memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the war. Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has reportedly said Iraq could play a “decisive role” in shaping a new regional order, particularly in the Gulf, as US forces prepare to withdraw from Iraq.
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