Donald Trump said Iran has contacted Washington asking the US to lift its naval blockade on Iranian ports, signaling Tehran is feeling economic pressure from the military cordon. Trump did not specify when the outreach occurred or what Iran offered in return, but the disclosure suggests back-channel contact between the two sides amid escalating tensions. Separately, Israel conducted a strike that killed medical workers, adding to the humanitarian toll of the conflict and drawing international attention to the targeting of civilian infrastructure. The naval blockade, if maintained, cuts off Iran's ability to move goods and oil through its ports, squeezing government revenues and accelerating domestic economic strain. Whether the US treats Iran's outreach as an opening for negotiation or uses it as leverage to demand concessions will shape how quickly the standoff either escalates or de-escalates. Markets with exposure to oil supply routes in the Gulf region are watching closely, as any shift in the blockade's status could move energy prices.
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
