The US Central Command confirmed this Wednesday (15) that the blockade of Iranian ports is “fully implemented” and that American forces maintain maritime superiority in the Middle East. In the first 24 hours of operation, eight tankers obeyed orders from American forces to reverse course, without any physical interdictions being reported. More than 20 commercial ships crossed the Strait of Hormuz recently, an improvement in flow through the strategic crossing point.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that negotiations between the US and Iran should resume. The Prime Minister of Pakistan, the central mediator in the process, is on his way to a series of meetings with regional leaders, with visits scheduled to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey.
He has already signaled that a new round of peace negotiations could take place in Pakistan in the coming days.
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Behind the scenes of the blockade, a game of cat and mouse is already underway between the Iranian shadow fleet and American forces. According to information from the Wall Street Journala US-sanctioned Chinese-owned oil tanker, the Rich Starry, briefly exited the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday before reversing course in the Gulf of Oman, the area where the US operates to enforce the blockade, and returned to the eastern edge of the Persian Gulf, near the Iranian coast.
According to Lloyd’s List Intelligence, the vessel was falsifying its automatic identification system between April 3 and 14, a period in which it had the opportunity to covertly load Iranian cargo. When transiting on Tuesday, the ship registered the coast of the United Arab Emirates as its point of origin.
At the diplomatic level, China denied having provided military support to Iran and threatened to retaliate if the US imposed tariffs based on what it called “purely fabricated” allegations. “If the US moves forward with tariff increases on China based on these accusations, China will respond with countermeasures,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said in a post on X.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping made his first public comments on the war on Tuesday, calling for respect for international law and the territorial integrity of the Gulf countries, according to state news agency Xinhua. Trump and Xi are due to meet in Beijing next month, after having postponed the summit due to the conflict with Iran.
Trump had said on Sunday to Fox Business who, despite reports of Chinese missiles being sent to Iran, doubted that Beijing had acted like this, but left the threat in the air: “If we catch them doing this, they get a 50% tariff, which is a staggering amount.”
(with international agencies)
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