Iran reimposed control over the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday after a brief reopening failed to hold, as IRGC gunboats fired on at least one tanker and a container ship was struck by an unknown projectile, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations Centre. At least eight oil and gas tankers had crossed by 10:30am GMT after Tehran's Friday announcement, but Iranian state TV later declared that the strait had returned to its "previous status" under strict military management, citing the continuation of a US naval blockade of Iranian ports. The breakdown exposes the central deadlock: Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire with the US and Israel, declared on February 28, but Washington stated its port blockade would "remain in full force" until a final deal is complete. Iran's parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei both described the blockade as a ceasefire violation, while Tehran's demand to impose tolls on strait traffic was explicitly rejected by Trump. AXSMarine estimates 108 to 116 million barrels of crude are currently held on vessels inside the Gulf, with a full transit taking six to eight days after a genuine reopening and several weeks to reach Asian markets. With four days left on the ceasefire, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he may not extend it, and that bombing could resume. Key sticking points, uranium transfer and tolls, remain unresolved ahead of a planned US-China summit in Beijing in May.
Iranian armed forces attacked a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, briefly halting traffic through the waterway. The strike threatens a fragile US-Iran arrangement and could push shipping insurance costs and oil prices higher.
The US has struck Iran, with President Trump citing an Iranian attack on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz as justification. The action raises immediate risks for global oil flows through one of the world's most critical shipping chokepoints.
The US struck ten Iranian targets on the second consecutive day of military action, putting a fragile ceasefire under serious pressure. The escalation raises immediate risks for Gulf shipping, global oil supply, and regional stability.
Venezuela's twin earthquakes, magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5, have killed at least 164 people and injured 971, interim president Delcy Rodriguez confirmed Thursday. The quakes are the country's strongest since 1900, collapsing buildings across Caracas and prompting a state of emergency, with the death toll expected to rise as