(Bloomberg) — Tensions between the U.S. and Iran have been rising over the Strait of Hormuz, with both sides maintaining their blockades of the critical waterway, creating a tense standoff with no sign of peace talks on the horizon.
US President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered the US Navy to fire on any ship that dropped mines in the strait, while the military said it detained two oil supertankers that were trying to evade his efforts to prevent passage to and from Iranian ports. US forces boarded a “sanctioned stateless vessel” carrying oil from Iran in the Indian Ocean overnight, the Pentagon said.
Later, the Iranian rice ship safely sailed through the Sea of Oman and arrived in Iran after being escorted by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the country’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported. It said the US Navy attempted to seize the vessel.
US Central Command did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump also said Thursday that if Iran doesn’t move its oil, its infrastructure will explode. He also reiterated that Iran wants to make a deal and the United States is talking to the country.
Tehran attacked at least three vessels on Wednesday, helping to ensure that a key transit point for oil and gas flows remains effectively shut down for an eighth straight week.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump wants Iran to agree to hand over its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which the Islamic Republic has so far refused to do. The US and Israel began the conflict by bombing Iran in late February, saying Tehran could further enrich the material and try to build an atomic bomb.
Trump repeated his argument that Iran was not pushing for peace because of infighting among its leaders, and said on social media that there was a battle between hardline and moderate factions. Meanwhile, “no ship can enter or leave without the consent of the United States Navy,” he said, referring to Hormuz. “It’s “tightly sealed” until Iran is able to make a DEAL!”
Hormuz has now been closed for nearly two months due to the conflict, raising fears of a ripple effect on the global economy. About a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supplies are typically transported through Hormuz, as are aluminum, fertilizers and other agricultural products.
“The conflict has entered a new phase centered on the Strait of Hormuz,” Bloomberg Economics analysts led by Becca Wasser said in a note. “The US blockade will likely remain in place. But it will not be effective in achieving its strategic goal: to economically pressure Iran into capitulation. Tehran’s tolerance for pain is significant when its survival is at stake.”
Trump says the blockade will end only when Iran approves a deal to end a war that has killed thousands, wreaked havoc across much of the Middle East and sent fuel prices soaring.
Brent crude rose above $105 a barrel for a fourth day as the stalemate worsened the global supply outlook. Stocks fell amid concerns a prolonged closure of the strait would raise inflation and slow economic growth.
The White House says the blockade is stifling Iran’s oil exports. He claims that Iran is losing $500 million every day, a figure for which he has not provided proof.
“The point of this is the economic leverage we now maintain on Iran,” Leavitt said. “And at the heart of it is this naval blockade. We’re choking off their main source of income.”
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Wednesday that Iran welcomes negotiations, but that “the blockade and threats are the main obstacles to real negotiations.”
Some vessels linked to Iran appear to have missed a line of US warships in the Gulf of Oman outside the Strait of Hormuz. At least two fully loaded Iranian tankers left the Persian Gulf this week, according to data intelligence company Vortexa.
However, the US military refuted the report, saying the tankers Hero II and Hedy were intercepted earlier this week and are now anchored in Chabahar, an Iranian port in the Gulf of Oman. The vessel Dorena was under escort by a US Navy destroyer in the Indian Ocean, according to a post on X.
Figures from Vortexy indicate that at least 34 Iranian-linked tankers have made their way through the strait and the US blockade line.
Trump’s extension of the truce was a retreat from threats to resume bombing Iran if a deal could not be reached by Wednesday’s deadline. He made the move after Vice President JD Vance abandoned a plan to go to Pakistan for further talks after it became clear Iran would not participate.
That did not ensure an immediate return to fighting in a war in which Iran has attacked Israel and the Arab Gulf states with thousands of drones and missiles. But Washington and Tehran still appear to be far apart on long-term issues related to the nuclear program and support for Middle Eastern militant groups.
Meanwhile, Israel and Lebanon are set to resume talks in Washington on Thursday. US Ambassador Mike Huckabee is expected to attend, according to a State Department official.
Israel and Hezbollah launched a parallel war in March. The ceasefire announced last week runs until April 26 and is largely in place despite mutual accusations of attacks. Trump is seeking a broader deal.
Any return to all-out fighting in Lebanon would likely worsen prospects for talks with Iran, which is Hezbollah’s main sponsor and considers the Islamist militant group a key ally.
–With help from Charles Gorrivan.
(Update with Iran claiming rice vessel has arrived in paragraph 3.)
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