Washington: The US military said Tuesday that it has reimposed its blockade of Iranian ports in response to Iran's attacks on commercial ships on the Strait of Hormuz, as the interim ceasefire deal unravels and concerns grow about a return to all-out war.
According to France24.com, the US first imposed the blockade in mid-April and then lifted it in mid-June, a day after the signing of the interim deal aimed at permanently ending the war. The deal set a 60-day timeline to also negotiate an agreement on Iran's nuclear program, but talks have stalled as fighting over the strait has intensified. When US President Donald Trump announced the return of the blockade Monday, he also said he would impose a 20% fee on ships passing through the strait. However, he dropped the plan to collect fees hours before resuming the blockade, citing requests from allies in the Gulf.
The interim peace agreement was supposed to reopen a waterway that is key to world energy supplies and give negotiators time to hammer out a permanent end to the war. Instead, fighting has once again engulfed the region, threatened the global economy, and brought warnings to commercial airlines. The US carried out another wave of strikes ahead of reimposing the blockade, targeting several areas in Iran, including coastal defense systems, missile and drone sites, and maritime capabilities. Iran acknowledged the strikes but provided no immediate casualty or damage assessments.
A fifth of all traded crude oil and natural gas passed through the Strait of Hormuz before the war, when it was open to all without tolls. The US and Iran have exchanged strikes for the third day, with Iran responding with attacks targeting Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, and three tankers traveling through the strait. The International Maritime Organization reported casualties, and the UAE threatened to retaliate.
The situation remains tense, with regional mediators attempting to get the US and Iran back to the negotiating table. Meanwhile, Lebanese and Israeli delegations are engaged in US-mediated negotiations in Rome, amid broader regional conflicts involving Hezbollah and Israel. The interim peace deal's future is uncertain as the 60-day negotiation period nears its halfway mark without significant progress.