Free Republic

Just yesterday, the Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was in Beijing, meeting with his counterpart, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. The two ministers reportedly discussed bilateral ties, the Iran-U.S. conflict, the Strait of Hormuz, and regional issues. But today, as Araghchi is already back in Tehran, the unpredictable happened, with the Iranians reportedly striking a Chinese-owned cargo ship in the Hormuz waterways. The attack was confirmed by US Ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz. “A Chinese-owned oil products tanker was attacked near the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, Chinese media outlet Caixin reported, as President Donald Trump launched a...

A Panama-flagged cargo vessel operated by a South Korean shipping company caught fire following an explosion while anchored in the Strait of Hormuz late Monday, according to government officials. No casualties were reported. The vessel, identified as HMM Namu, was anchored outside the port limits of Umm Al Quwain when the incident occurred at around 8:40 p.m., authorities said. The ship had 24 crew members on board, including six South Koreans and 18 foreign nationals. The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said an explosion was observed on the port side of the engine room, with information relayed from a nearby...

Countries from all over the World, almost all of which are not involved in the Middle Eastern dispute going on so visibly, and violently, for all to see, have asked the United States if we could help free up their Ships, which are locked up in the Strait of Hormuz, on something which they have absolutely nothing to do with — They are merely neutral and innocent bystanders! For the good of Iran, the Middle East, and the United States, we have told these Countries that we will guide their Ships safely out of these restricted Waterways, so that they...

A cargo ship was struck by multiple small craft while sailing near the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, UK military officials said. The ship, which was not immediately identified, was hit right off the coast of Sirik, Iran, just east of the strait, according to the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre. All crew members were reported safe, with no group immediately claiming responsibility for the attack. Iran’s military, however, has repeatedly warned any ship that tries to navigate the strait would be attacked unless they pay a toll and prove they are not affiliated with the US...

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday announced a new initiative aimed at safely escorting foreign vessels stranded in the Strait of Hormuz, amid ongoing tensions in the Middle East. In a statement posted online, Trump said multiple countries had requested U.S. assistance to help free their ships, describing them as “neutral and innocent bystanders” caught in a conflict they are not involved in. The U.S. president revealed that Washington would begin guiding these vessels out of restricted waters under a plan dubbed “Project Freedom,” scheduled to start Monday morning, Middle East time. Trump emphasized that the operation...

Barring regime change in Iran or a durable diplomatic resolution to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the West is now facing its most fundamental challenge to its energy security since the Arab-Israeli wars of the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s. To escape the Hormuz trap—a crisis in oil, gas, and petrochemicals transit that will slowly degrade the global economy over the months and years to come—the West must revisit a familiar pattern. For nearly three decades during those wars, Arab states seeking to pressure Israel and its Western backers repeatedly weaponized Middle Eastern oil transit chokepoints by blocking canals...

The Iranian regime folks are not happy campers right now. They're being squeezed by the U.S. blockade that's costing them an estimated $435 million a day. As Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent explained, that's going to cause their Kharg Island operation to be "shut in" soon. That's the money that sustains the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) that would then be cut off. Meanwhile, the U.S. is even seizing its ships, like the MV Touska, that tried to run the U.S. blockade with some bad materials aboard that could have helped their missile program. So what are the regime's options? They...

"UKMTO has received a report of an incident 15NM northeast of Oman," an alert read. "The Master of a Container Ship reported that the vessel was approached by 1 IRGC gun boat, no VHF challenge that then fired upon the vessel which has caused heavy damage to the bridge. No fires or environmental impact reported. All Crew reported safe." Between the start of the war and Sunday, April 20, a total of 33 reports of incidents affecting vessels operating in and around the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz (SOH), and Gulf of Oman were received. .....

President Donald Trump announced Sunday afternoon that the United States Navy had captured and taken custody of an Iranian-flagged merchant vessel that had attempted to run the blockade established at the Strait of Hormuz.BREAKING: President Trump just announced the US military has SEIZED an Iranian cargo ship which attempted to GET PASSED America’s Naval blockadePresident Trump wasn’t bluffing.“It did not go well for them.The U.S. Navy Guided Missile Destroyer USS SPRUANCE intercepted the TOUSKA in the Gulf of Oman, and gave them fair warning to stop. The Iranian crew refused to listen, so our Navy ship stopped them right in...

The U.S. military is preparing in coming days to board Iran-linked oil tankers and seize commercial ships in international waters, according to U.S. officials, expanding its naval crackdown beyond the Middle East.

This is a serious question. It seems that on alternate days, “Iran” declares that the Strait of Hormuz is open. The Strait is closed. The Strait is open with strict Iran-favorable conditions. The Strait is closed to all except Iran friends and family. We never get a straight story. I follow the shipping news closely and even in the darkest days of the Iran crisis, a least a few ships appeared to be getting through. Early on, Iran made some threats that they were never in any position to follow through on. Nonetheless, insurance companies panicked, ship owners got cold...

A number of tankers and cargo ships did try to exit the strait Friday via the route designated by Iran around Larak Island but they suddenly turned back, said Matt Smith, director of commodity research at Kpler. “They’ve clearly not been given approval to pass through,” Smith said. Commercial ships must follow a route designated by Tehran and coordinate with its military, a source close to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council told Tasnim News. Ships are not allowed to pass if they or their cargoes are linked to hostile nations, according to the Tasnim report. It is “unclear whether there’s...

April 15 (Reuters) - China has told Danish shipping group Maersk (MAERSKb.CO), opens new tab and Switzerland-based Mediterranean ​Shipping Company (MSC Shipping) to cease operating ports ‌on the Panama Canal, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday. In a meeting with China's state planner last month, ​Maersk and MSC Shipping were told to ​withdraw from the Balboa and Cristóbal ports ⁠immediately, the report said, citing two people ​familiar with the talks. Maersk and MSC were told not to "engage ​in illegal activities that harm the interests of Chinese companies, ‌and ⁠to uphold commercial ethics and international rules," the report said. Panama...

According to a U.S. Central Command social media post, six merchant vessels turned around in compliance with the U.S. blockade once it went into effect Monday morning. CENTCOM spokesperson Capt. Tim Hawkins declined to provide USNI News with the names of the six ships.The Strait of Hormuz continues to be a point of contention in the ongoing war between Iran and the U.S. Iran wants control of the waterway as part of the agreement between the two countries. International maritime law treats the Strait of Hormuz as an international passage open to all, while Iran argues it is made up...

At least two oil and chemical tankers were forced to turn away from the Strait of Hormuz on Monday after the United States moved to enforce a naval blockade, according to maritime tracking data. One of the vessels, Rich Starry, which had listed its destination as China, reportedly reversed course within minutes of the blockade taking effect, data from MarineTraffic showed. Responding to the developments, China issued a strong message signalling it would continue its maritime activity in the region. Defence Minister Dong Jun said Chinese vessels would keep operating in the area and warned against external interference. “Our ships...

Iran does not need to secure the Strait of Hormuz. It only needs to make sure that no one else can, either. Despite the sorry condition of its naval forces,.. Iran still maintains selective control of the Strait of Hormuz—resulting in 80 to 90 percent of the traffic being halted. How? Not through naval dominance, but rather through asymmetric disruption, which Iran uses to make travel through the Strait too dangerous to risk. Iran Doesn’t Need to Close the Strait to Cut Off Shipping Iran’s strategy is not to implement a total blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Instead, it...

FILE PHOTO: An aerial view of the island of Qeshm, separated from the Iranian mainland by the Clarence Strait, on December 10, 2023. Nicolas Economou/Reuters With thousands of US ground troops reportedly on the way to the Middle East, speculation is mounting that they may be assigned to take Iran’s Kharg Island, a key fuel hub in the northern Persian Gulf which handles 90% of Tehran’s oil exports. But Kharg is just one of dozens of Iranian islands in the gulf, and others may be more important to securing the safe passage of ships – and naval vessels –...

The islands of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb, and Lesser Tunb in the Persian Gulf hold the key to the global economy's most vital chokepoint: the Strait of Hormuz..In the current landscape of the West Asia conflict, the islands of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb, and Lesser Tunb have transformed from sleepy patches of sand into what military analysts call “unsinkable aircraft carriers". While the world watches the missile exchanges between major powers, these three tiny landmasses in the Persian Gulf hold the key to the global economy’s most vital chokepoint: the Strait of Hormuz.The story of how these islands became part...

VIDEOHerbjorn Hansson, CEO of Nordic American Tankers, joins 'Squawk on the Street' to discuss shipping uncertainties related to the Iran war.

Five weeks into a war that has sent oil prices soaring and left global shipping in disarray, Tehran just blinked. At least for one country. Iran announced on April 5 that it is exempting one of its closest neighbors from the Strait of Hormuz restrictions that have strangled global energy supplies since the U.S. and Israel launched their war on Iran on February 28, according to Al Jazeera. Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said restrictions would only apply to “enemy countries.” “Brotherly Iraq is exempt from any restrictions we have imposed on the Strait of Hormuz,” Iran’s military spokesman said...