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WASHINGTON — Oman has quietly rejected Iran’s request to jointly charge service fees on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, The Post has learned — averting a clash with President Trump, who has threatened to rain down bombs on the US ally. A high-ranking regional official said that Muscat declined to consent to charging fees — even on a voluntary basis — for environmental and security services, contrary to a statement last week from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The terms of a proposed revenue-sharing deal had not been finalized, even by Tehran, a US official told The Post...

There are several ways that wars end. –One side conquers and annexes the other. –One side surrenders and gives up some of their land, treasure, and authority in a peace treaty. –One side has a domestic change of government and the new one befriends the other side. –Things reach a stalemate and the shooting stops in an ongoing, uncomfortable sort of permanent ceasefire. The USA-Iran War has never fit comfortably into such normal classifications. During the first 47 years of the war, the Twelver regime of Iran didn’t just attack the United States, but attacked countless countries and interests all...

China warned that it would “take all necessary measures” and retaliate against the US if any of its companies are included in the Trump administration’s new secondary sanctions targeting Iran.Companies based in Hong Kong and mainland China were among the entities targeted by the US after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced “Operation Economic Outcast” on Monday to further isolate Iran. The US, however, stopped short of listing large Chinese financial institutions, with Beijing — Iran’s largest oil buyer — warning that it will do whatever it takes to protect its economic interests. *** “China has made clear on many occasions...

In this episode of What the Ship, we break down the top five maritime stories as of late August 2026. From high-stakes salvage operations in the Pacific to escalating economic warfare in the Black Sea, global shipping is facing unprecedented challenges. We look at how these regional disruptions are redrawing trade maps, spiking freight rates, and ultimately impacting global inflation. What the Ship (Ep 146) | Starship 40 & SLNC York Hormuz, Black Sea & Chokepoint Chaos | Containers 30:26 | What's Going on With Shipping? 713K subscribers | 34,153 views | August 24, 2026

An Iranian military spokesman said Saturday that Tehran's control over the Strait of Hormuz is "irreversible," warning that the United States must accept the new status quo or face even greater costs. "The Iranian order prevailing over the Strait of Hormuz is irreversible," Iranian army spokesman Brig. Gen. Amir Akraminia said, according to Iran's Fars news agency. "Today, the Iranian order prevails in the Strait of Hormuz, and the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran stand firm until this order is fully established," Akraminia said. He said Iran's armed forces have the will and military capabilities necessary to...

On Tuesday night before getting onto Air Force One, President Donald Trump told reporters that "a lot of progress" had been made in negotiations with Iran, adding that a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz could come "tomorrow or the next day."

President Donald Trump is pausing plans for a major attack on Iran, he announced on Saturday with the hopes of reviving an agreement with the country. The president was mulling whether or not to hit areas that would impact foundational elements of the Islamic Republic’s grid, as well as infrastructure, according to Axios.“The U.S.A. is locked and loaded and ready to go against the Islamic Republic of Iran, at levels of Military Terror, Strength, and Power not seen since World War II,” Trump posted to Truth Social. “Despite this, we have just been asked by Iran, and other Middle Eastern...

California Forever, a controversial project with aspirations to expand Solano County by up to 400,000 residents, was dealt a blow last week as a $3 billion contract went to Texas instead. California Forever first became known to the public in 2024, when reports surfaced that a shadowy group of billionaires had purchased 65,000 largely rural acres around Suisun City and Rio Vista, making it the largest landowner in Solano County. The group announced it planned to build a new city with its acquisitions, but the idea was widely unpopular in the county. Amid dire polling numbers, California Forever pulled a...

Iran said on Monday it was still in control of the Strait of Hormuz and not seeking to resume peace talks with the United States, after President Donald Trump halted a two-week bombing campaign that his top brass told him had run its course.Following 13 successive nights of intensifying bombing that provoked Tehran to fire on U.S. bases in response, Trump halted the campaign over the weekend. Iran said it would pause its own attacks for as long as the U.S. pause in bombing endures. Trump's decision to suspend the campaign reflected advice from his top brass that ‌the bombing,...

Any damage inflicted by Iran on ships in the Strait of Hormuz will be paid for by Iranian money that the U.S. holds, President Donald Trump said on Thursday in a Truth Social post. The comment follows after the U.S. has pounded Iran for about 12 days straight. Iran and the U.S. tore up a memorandum of understanding that sought peace after Iran repeatedly fired upon ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz. “Please let this statement serve to represent, until further notice, that from this point forth, any and all damages done to Ships, Cargo, or anything related thereto, will...

A contentious Senate hearing on a supplemental budget request of nearly $88 billion, largely earmarked to cover the ongoing war on Iran, revealed new figures about the war’s cost to date and the effects of the military’s Project Freedom initiative to escort commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz. The hearing did little, however, to provide concrete answers on what it would take to end the conflict. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth appeared Tuesday before the Senate Appropriations Committee alongside the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, to defend the request, more than $67 billion...

On Morning Joe's June 18th episode, Scarborough railed that the Memorandum of Understanding leaves the Iranian regime "more powerful than they've ever been."But on Wednesday's Scarborough chat-a-thon, Kim Ghattas, a contributing editor at the Financial Times, acknowledged that while Iran may appear to hold the upper hand with actions like threatening the Strait of Hormuz and inflicting casualties, the reality on the ground tells a different story. “It's very interesting to hear Richard speak about Israeli overreach and American overreach. Because I also think the Iranians are overreaching at this moment in the conflict . . . They also feel...

Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) pressed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in a testy exchange on Iran and the state of the Strait of Hormuz. At a Tuesday Senate hearing, Kennedy questioned both Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. John D. Caine on the Strait as tensions have escalated between the United States and Iran with the U.S. launching days of strikes and Iran continuing to target ships in the Strait. “Will they put tolls on the Strait?” Kennedy asked Caine. “I don’t know, sir. That’s a decision that’s a hypothetical and will depend on what happens in the...

The Iranian regime unveiled a shocking giant mural in central Tehran on Wednesday depicting President Donald Trump lying in a coffin and captioned with the brazen threat, “We kill Trump.” The mural, erected in Tehran’s Islamic Revolution Square, shows Trump with his hands folded across his chest and his face protruding from the coffin. It was unveiled just weeks after the funeral of Iran’s late Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, killed at the outset of the U.S. and Israel’s conflict with Iran, where crowds were filmed chanting slogans calling for death to America. It remains unclear who commissioned the mural,...

DOHA — With the U.S. blockade of the important waterway back on amid renewed hostilities in Iran, President Donald Trump announced that he would secure the Strait of Hormuz by posting an old man who asks you three questions before you may pass. The old man, who was reportedly discovered by U.S. military officials as he guarded a rickety bridge over a chasm in rural Britain known as the Gorge of Eternal Peril, will now be stationed on a dinghy in the Strait of Hormuz, where he will bar the passage of any vessel unless its crew can answer...

Oil producers in the Persian Gulf are making plans to bypass the Strait of Hormuz with new pipelines and a new port after Iran has repeatedly attacked ships and blocked traffic. The idea is to minimize Tehran’s leverage on the waterway that once saw 20% of the world’s oil pass through it as the war stretches into its fifth month. Iran has already insisted that it will impose tolls on the strait, which could cost tens of billions of dollars. And in some cases, it is extracting millions of dollars of protection money per oil tanker. Two such projects are...

The US announced a new round of strikes on Iran on Monday, hours after President Donald Trump said that the United States is 'reinstating' a blockade on Iran in the Strait of Hormuz. 'We're taking out all of their capability for anything having to do with the strait, the Hormuz Strait,' Trump told CBS News Monday evening. 'And I think in the end we will end up just controlling the whole thing.' Trump said the US is prepared to hit Iran 'very hard' on Monday and Tuesday, saying the country’s heavily fortified nuclear facility at Pickaxe Mountain was a target....

President Trump just put Iran on a very short clock. By Saturday, the regime is expected to publicly acknowledge that the Strait of Hormuz is open and pledge that commercial ships will not be attacked. Washington is demanding more than another foggy diplomatic promise. Tehran must say the words in public, where the entire world can hold the regime to them. Axios reported that the demand was delivered both directly to Tehran and through regional mediators, according to three U.S. officials who briefed reporters Friday. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is expected to meet Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi in...

Arab countries attacking Iran

‘My whole life, all I do is deals,” President Trump said Wednesday, but Iran’s regime “is from a different school,” he had to admit. “They’re liars, they’re cheats, they’re sick people.” Mr. Trump cited the tens of thousands of Iranians slaughtered by the regime in January and explained how its word has proved worthless. “I don’t want to deal with them anymore,” he said.The President is so mercurial that it’s impossible to know if he’s serious that the cease-fire is “over,” as he said. He could declare it back on tomorrow. But he’s right that Iran’s regime has been wasting...