Will step up economic pressure, US warns Iran

STRAIT STRIKE | 2 UAE tankers attacked in Hormuz; 9 vessels cross narrow waterway on Thursday, up from 5 on Wednesday

Washington/Dubai: Transit through the Strait of Hormuz appeared to grind to a near standstill on Friday after two more ships were attacked and the US said it could maintain a naval blockade of Iran indefinitely.

A senior Iranian source said there had been no progress in talks to build on a June agreement to end the war. After a renewed ceasefire broke down, Iran resumed attacks on ships it accuses of trying to transit the strait without permission.

Two vessels belonging to the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company were attacked while transiting the strait on Thursday evening, UAE state news agency WAM reported. The UAE government blamed Iran, which ma­de no immediate comment.

Nine vessels passed thro­u­gh the waterway on Thursday, up from five on Wednesday but below the August average of 12, ship-tracking company Kpler said. No crossings were visible early on Friday, according to ship-tracking data.

Some ships may pass undetected with their transponders off, but traffic remains far below the more than 130 ships that traversed the strait daily before the war.

INDEFINITE NAVAL PRESENCE?

Defence Secretary Pete Heg­seth said the US military could maintain its naval presence to enforce the retaliatory blockade, which has inflicted severe economic damage on Iran.

“Indefinitely, the US Navy can maintain a blockade like that because we’ll rotate ships in and out, as we have, and we'll continue to,” Hegseth told reporters in Panama.

MORE MEASURES SOON

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the US would inflict more financial damage on Iran. “Next week we are going to apply measures like have never been seen in the history of economic isolation on a country,” he said.

Bessent said the measures would combine unprecedented economic isolation with the strait blockade to prevent anything from entering or leaving Iranian ports.

Meanwhile, an Iranian parliamentary committee appro­ved Iran’s strait plan, including a provision banning the transit of assets and equipment belonging to the US, Israel and other “hostile” nations.

AMERICA’s OBJECTIVES

US Vice President JD Vance said Washington’s first priority was to “keep oil and gasoline cheap for Americans”, followed by preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. “That’s goal number one,” Vance told Fox News. “And then, obviously, goal number two is ensure that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon.”

On the endgame, Vance said the US should emerge stronger, with Iran lacking a nuclear weapon and the strait returning to conditions where oil and gas prices are stable for Americans.

—Agencies