The United States military command overseeing the Middle East, CENTCOM, has announced that two of its vessels navigated the Strait of Hormuz, a claim swiftly refuted by Iran.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, CENTCOM stated that the destroyers USS Frank E Peterson and USS Michael Murphy \u201ctransited the Strait of Hormuz and operated in the Arabian Gulf as part of a broader mission to ensure the strait is fully clear of sea mines previously laid by Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps\u201d (IRGC).<\/p>\n
US Admiral Brad Cooper, in a statement, hailed the ships\u2019 presence in the strait as a pivotal moment in the ongoing US and Israeli conflict against Iran, which commenced on February 28. \u201cToday, we began the process of establishing a new passage, and we will share this safe pathway with the maritime industry soon to encourage the free flow of commerce,\u201d he declared.<\/p>\n
This potential new passage signifies a major shift. The control of the strait has been a significant point of contention, given that it facilitates the passage of a fifth of the world\u2019s oil and natural gas, alongside substantial amounts of fertilizer and other goods. Iran had effectively closed the narrow waterway, permitting only pre-approved ships, following the initial US-Israel attacks in February. This closure subsequently disrupted both commercial and military traffic, leading to a surge in global fuel prices.<\/p>\n
However, on Saturday, a spokesperson for the Iranian military\u2019s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters promptly denied the US statement. \u201cThe claim by the CENTCOM commander regarding the approach and entry of American vessels into the Strait of Hormuz is strongly denied,\u201d the spokesperson asserted, adding, \u201cThe initiative for the passage and movement of any vessel is in the hands of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran.\u201d The IRGC, for its part, vowed \u201ca strong response\u201d to any military ships attempting to pass through the strait.<\/p>\n
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Maria Sultan, director general of the Pakistan-based South Asian Strategic Stability Institute, suggested that if the US ships had indeed moved freely through the strait, it would have necessitated Tehran\u2019s explicit permission. \u201cSo understand, [if] Iranians do not give a safe passage, it\u2019s impossible for the American military fleet to move freely in the Strait of Hormuz,\u201d she explained in a television interview.<\/p>\n
These exchanges occurred amidst ongoing negotiations between the US and Iran in Islamabad. The talks featured a historic face-to-face meeting between the US delegation, led by Vice President JD Vance, and the Iranian delegation, headed by Iran\u2019s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. These represented the highest-level meetings of their kind since the 1979 Islamic revolution and were initiated after a preliminary ceasefire was reached on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Both sides, however, have provided differing accounts of the conditions for these negotiations. Entering the talks, they remained at odds on crucial issues, including the future of Iran\u2019s nuclear program, the release of frozen Iranian assets, and whether Israel\u2019s invasion and ongoing attacks in Lebanon were covered by the initial ceasefire agreement. Al Jazeera correspondent Ali Hashem, reporting from Tehran, indicated that Iranian officials appear to believe an agreement had been reached for Israel to cease bombing Beirut and its suburbs, though no official announcement has been made. Hashem also noted that Iranian sources and news organizations have characterized US demands as \u201cexcessive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Significantly, US and Iranian officials reportedly remain deadlocked over the future control of the Strait of Hormuz. Iran\u2019s semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported on Saturday that the strait was among the primary points of \u201cserious disagreement\u201d in the negotiations. As part of the initial ceasefire agreement, Iran had stated it would temporarily reopen the strait to commercial shipping, though US officials cited delays due to the presence of mines. Tehran, however, insists on maintaining its leverage over the strait as part of any comprehensive deal and has proposed levying tolls for passage as a means of collecting war reparations. Conversely, the US has deemed continued Iranian control over the waterway a non-starter, with analysts widely suggesting that an end to the war without a full reopening of the strait would be perceived as a strategic failure for the US.<\/p>\n
Reporting from Islamabad, Al Jazeera\u2019s Kimberly Halkett observed that both negotiating parties were striving to overcome a \u201cdeficit of trust.\u201d \u201cThere are some of the big hurdles that need to be accomplished,\u201d she said, adding, \u201cBut I can tell you what\u2019s happening right now in the hotel behind me is that they are working late into the night.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump took to his Truth Social account twice on Saturday to dispute any notion that Iran held the upper hand in the negotiations. Trump asserted that \u201ceveryone knows that they are LOSING, and LOSING BIG!\u201d He further claimed, \u201cThe only thing they have going is the threat that a ship may \u2018bunk\u2019 into one of their sea mines which, by the way, all 28 of their mine dropper boats are also lying at the bottom of the sea.\u201d Trump also reiterated his view that the Strait of Hormuz was less critical to the US than to its allies, who have largely declined his requests for military support in the waterway. \u201cWe\u2019re now starting the process of clearing out the Strait of Hormuz as a favor to Countries all over the World, including China, Japan, South Korea, France, Germany, and many others,\u201d Trump stated.<\/p>\n
Trump has cited various justifications for initiating the war, including dismantling Iran\u2019s nuclear enrichment program and curbing its missile capabilities. Military observers have noted that six weeks of conflict have degraded Iran\u2019s military capacity. However, some of Trump\u2019s broader objectives, such as halting Iran\u2019s nuclear program or instigating comprehensive regime change, remain elusive. The prospect of a protracted and costly war is also considered a political liability for Trump and the Republican party, with the 2026 US midterm elections fast approaching. Saturday\u2019s talks marked the six-week point of the war, and it remains uncertain whether the ceasefire will extend beyond its initial two-week period. Speaking to reporters later in the day, Trump confirmed that the US and Iranian delegations were engaged in \u201cvery deep\u201d discussions but maintained an ambivalent stance on the negotiation\u2019s outcome. \u201cWhether we make a deal or not, makes no difference to me, because we\u2019ve won,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n
#StraitOfHormuz #USIranTensions #MineClearance #MiddleEastSecurity #NavalOperations #Diplomacy #Geopolitics #OilShipping #CENTCOM #IRGC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The United States military command overseeing the Middle East, CENTCOM, has announced that two of its vessels navigated the Strait of Hormuz, a claim swiftly refuted by Iran. On Saturday, CENTCOM stated that the destroyers USS Frank E Peterson and USS Michael Murphy \u201ctransited the Strait of Hormuz and operated in the Arabian Gulf as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":275,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}