DUBAI/LONDON, June 26 (Reuters) – Iran reasserted its right on Friday to control shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and warned Gulf states against siding with the U.S., a day after an attack on a ship near Oman highlighted the fragility of a preliminary deal to end the Iran war.
Tehran was responding to what it called an “interventionist, irresponsible and provocative” joint statement by the U.S. and six Gulf states that rejected Iran’s insistence that it could charge tolls on vessels transiting the strait.
“Safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz cannot be guaranteed under ambiguous arrangements, parallel routes or decision-making that does not take Iran’s role as a coastal state into account,” Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said on X.
Oil prices dipped further on Friday, despite conflicting interpretations of last week’s interim deal between Iran and the U.S. and a slowdown in traffic through the strait, where a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies typically passes.
Oil prices dipped further on Friday, despite conflicting interpretations of last week’s interim deal between Iran and the U.S. and a slowdown in traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies typically passes. via Associated Press
Saudi Aramco resumed crude loadings on Friday at its Ras Tanura terminal in the Gulf, the world’s biggest oil port, after a nearly four-month halt, shipping data showed.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio — wrapping up a tour of the Gulf to reassure nervous regional allies about the interim pact — told reporters on Thursday that if Iran threatened or blocked ships in the strait, “we’re going to have a problem.”
In their joint statement, Rubio and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) called for “free, unconditional, and unrestricted navigation” in the Strait of Hormuz without tolls or “attempts to assert control”, and said a lasting peace must address Iran’s ballistic missiles, drones and support for proxy groups.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/us-iran-strait-of-hormuz-shipping_n_6a3e57d4e4b07281419d2f20
