Tensions between Washington and Tehran entered a new chapter on Sunday, with an exchange of air attacks involving missiles and drones. The focus of the dispute is the Strait of Hormuz, a maritime corridor through which much of the world's oil passes.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard announced on Saturday, through the state agency PressTV, the total closure of the waterway to vessels. "No vessel will be permitted to transit through the strait," the statement released by the Iranian broadcaster said.
The current US president, Donald Trump, rejected that version in an interview with NBC News' "Meet the Press," stating that the passage remains open to commercial traffic. He had already authorized new bombings against Iranian targets on Saturday.
The order came after the attack on the Cyprus-flagged container ship M/V GFS Galaxy. According to US Central Command, the vessel suffered fire and damage in the engine room, and one civilian crew member remains missing.
Tehran retaliated by targeting American facilities in neighboring countries. Qatar intercepted ballistic missiles, Bahrain asked civilians to seek shelter, and Kuwait reported facing "hostile aerial targets."
Regional diplomacy reacted strongly. Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs held Iran "fully and legally responsible for these attacks and for their repercussions and consequences," while the United Arab Emirates condemned the offensives against Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan, and Oman.
Centcom posted on LinkedIn that "Iran does not control the strait. Traffic is flowing," reinforcing that American forces guarantee freedom of navigation in the region.
The impasse stems from the memorandum signed on June 17, which provided for safe passage and toll exemptions for 60 days, but left the routes undefined. For David Goldwyn, former special envoy of the State Department, "the fundamental problem here is that the memorandum of understanding did not reach a consensus regarding the management of maritime traffic through the strait."
Meanwhile, Oman is trying to mediate. Diplomats report that France and the United Kingdom are evaluating proposals for non-mandatory navigation fees, subject to the approval of the International Maritime Organization, at a time when the global energy market and cryptocurrencies are closely monitoring geopolitical risks.
