U.S. President Donald Trump said in the Oval Office that he wants to declare the Strait of Hormuz American territory. He claimed that the United States maintains full control over the strait and ruled out the possibility of extending the memorandum with Iran.

He also said that the United States would not seek an extension of the memorandum with Iran. The president explained that the Iranians want an agreement, but he believes it is necessary.

Trump said that oil prices are falling, but warned of possible drastic moves in the future. He called Oman’s stance unsatisfactory, stating that he would handle the matter.

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Iran and Oman are nearing an agreement on how to manage the Strait of Hormuz, Bloomberg reported on Saturday, adding that the two sides are reaching an agreement on routes through the strategically important waterway.

The “maritime map,” Bloomberg continued, is part of a broader agreement to regulate traffic through the Strait and constitutes a separate agreement between Iran and Oman that would preserve their sovereignty and ensure the safe passage of vessels.

This was the context for statements by Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghai, as reported by the Defa Press agency. He said the talks were progressing well despite obstacles from the US side. The state news agency did not specify whether vessels would be charged a transit fee or what security measures would be put in place for them, but said a new round of talks would be held.

The Strait has proved to be the most difficult obstacle to ending the nearly six-month war between the US and Iran. The US did not take part in these negotiations, but its position has been that it will not accept an agreement that does not restore unconditional freedom of navigation in the Strait.

Uncertainty over how freedom of navigation in the Strait will be fully restored has kept oil prices high, with Brent rising 6% in recent days. In addition, uncertainty is being fueled by dozens of attacks on vessels, which have left a total of 17 sailors dead.

For its part, the US is also investing in economic warfare to exert pressure on Iran, with Donald Trump saying on Friday that Washington plans to hit the Iranian economy hard.

Speaking on Fox, he added that he did not care whether the war ended before the November midterm elections. That same day, the US president said he would “very soon” declare the Strait of Hormuz “territory of the United States” — but it is unclear how he would carry out that promise.

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The US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that it had launched a new wave of strikes against Iran “after the unprovoked attack by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps against the M/V GFS Galaxy, a Cyprus-flagged container ship sailing in the Strait of Hormuz.”

The targets included Iranian missile and drone facilities, naval capabilities, ammunition storage facilities, communications networks, and coastal surveillance positions, the US Central Command added.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said earlier that the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed until further notice, after it fired warning shots at a ship suspected of trying to pass through an unauthorized route.

According to Iranian state television, following this incident, it was decided that the Strait of Hormuz would be closed “until American interference in the region stops.”

It was also emphasized that no ship would be allowed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz and that if the enemy uses the incident as a pretext to launch new attacks against the Islamic Republic, then it will receive a “harsh response.”

The Revolutionary Guard also announced that it had struck a second ship in the Strait of Hormuz and that it had targeted the strategic US air base at Al Udeid in Qatar with ballistic missiles, destroying, according to them, the fighter aircraft maintenance center and a command and control facility.

Iran’s military also announced that its forces carried out an attack on the support and supply platforms for a US aircraft carrier in the port of Duqm, Oman.

The Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) added that the operation targeted logistical support centers for American naval vessels.

In addition, an alert was issued at dawn in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain over Iranian missile and drone attacks.

The post Tensions Escalate, Iran Attacks a Ship in the Strait of Hormuz, US Strikes for the Third Time in a Week! Sea Route Closed appeared first on Albeu.com.

However, a small number of ships are still trying to pass through the route. Five ships were seen entering the Strait of Hormuz this morning, two days after Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said the channel would be closed because of Israel’s ongoing attacks in Lebanon.

Yesterday as well, five ships passed through, down from 26 observed a day earlier, according to ship-tracking data from the analytics firm Kpler.

However, the situation in the waterway remains uncertain, as US Centcom denied that the strait had been closed and said that 55 commercial ships had passed through on Saturday, a figure still well below the pre-war average of 130 ships.

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Tehran said it had closed the strait — through which about 20 percent of global oil and gas supplies passed before the war — in retaliation for violations of a temporary ceasefire agreement by the United States and Israel.

Data from the analytics firm Kpler showed that on June 21 only five ships passed through the strait, down from 26 recorded a day earlier.

Three of them were identified as very large crude carriers (VLCCs) — each carrying about 2 million barrels of Saudi crude oil and fuel — and one of them was headed to Japan.

Some ships may not have been included in the statistics because they switched off their tracking devices while passing through the Persian Gulf.

Tehran lifted the strait blockade last week after reaching an agreement with the United States to extend the ceasefire announced in April for another 60 days, in order to give peace negotiations more room.

But on June 20, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) declared the waterway closed again in response to Israeli attacks in Lebanon.

The US military said commercial ships continue to operate normally. Meanwhile, in the early hours of June 22, it was reported that the United States and Iran had agreed on a plan toward reaching a final peace agreement./REL

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