The truce between Iran and the United States was threatened after the US military seized the Iranian cargo ship Tosca. (Tosca), which tried to break the American blockade on Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz. On April 19, the United States attacked a container ship heading from China to the port of Bandar Abbas. Then US Marines boarded the ship.
Tehran accused Washington of violating the truce and piracy. father words According to the official representative of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ismail Baghaei, the United States is “not serious” about continuing the diplomatic process, and Iran will not change its demands. Iranian military leadership maleIn response to the attack on the Tosca container ship, Tehran attacked several American warships with drones.
Iran opened the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, but quickly closed it again. Iran announced on Friday, April 17, that it would temporarily open the strait to all commercial ships. But the next day, Tehran blocked the shipment again. The leadership of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic has notified that it will obstruct the movement of ships as long as the United States closes Iranian ports. Soon after, it became known that several ships trying to pass through the Strait of Hormuz had come under fire. The American blockade has been in effect since April 12, and Washington has not yet announced its intention to abandon it.
Since the beginning of the war on February 28, the Strait of Hormuz has been effectively closed. Iran told shipowners that the main channel of the Strait of Hormuz was unsafe due to mines (no evidence of this), and began allowing some tankers along its coast for a fee of $1 per barrel of oil transported.
Iran’s decision to close the road has caused severe economic damage to countries that depend on Middle Eastern oil and has led to higher energy prices around the world. In peacetime, one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supplies pass through the strait.
After the failure of the first round of negotiations to end the war, which took place in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, on April 11 and 12, Donald Trump announced the start of a naval blockade. The US Navy began preventing ships from passing through the Strait of Hormuz to and from Iranian ports.
Thus, Trump tried to deprive Tehran of control over the main pressure tool in the negotiations, which is access to the Strait of Hormuz. The blockade, among other things, threatens Iran with a sharp deterioration in its economic situation.
Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has practically stopped. In the past 12 hours, only three ships have passed this route. Reports Reuters cited satellite analysis from data scientists SynMax and information from observing platform Kpler. For comparison, according to Data Kepler, on Saturday, April 18, before the renewal of the Iranian blockade, more than 20 ships carrying oil, liquefied petroleum gas, minerals and fertilizers passed through the strait. The agency indicates that this is the largest number of ships that have crossed the strait since March 1.
Trump said that the American delegation will arrive in Islamabad on the evening of April 20 to continue negotiations. White House representative I mentioned Reuters said that the American delegation, as happened during the first round of negotiations, will be headed by Vice President J.D. Vance. Trump himself had previously insisted that Vance would not travel to Islamabad. US negotiators should also include US Special Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. According to the US President, Washington is offering Tehran a “fair and reasonable” offer. “I hope they approve it, because if they don’t, the United States will destroy every power station and every bridge in Iran,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Iran has not confirmed its participation in the second round of negotiations. Whether that will happen is unknown. According to the Iranian Tasnim Agency, Tehran does not plan to send a delegation to Pakistan to conduct negotiations with the United States while the United States continues to blockade the Strait of Hormuz. Another Iranian agency, IRNA, described the obstacles to the negotiations, in addition to the naval blockade, as “excessive American demands and unreasonable and unrealistic expectations,” Washington’s “continuous change in positions,” and its “contradictory statements” and threats. Meanwhile, in Pakistan, Reuters wrote, preparations for negotiations continue.
The talks in Islamabad may be the last opportunity to reach an agreement or extend the truce. April 21 is officially the last day of the ceasefire, which the parties agreed to at the beginning of the month.
Iran fears that the talks are a White House ploy, He writes Axios. In a conversation with the newspaper on April 19, Trump said he was calm about the approaching end of the truce. “The concept of the deal has already been agreed upon. I think we have a very good chance of seeing it through to the end,” he said. But the Iranian officials who spoke to reporters do not share the US President’s optimism and question his statements about the deal, fearing that it would be a cover for a surprise American attack.
Uncertainty over the negotiations and truce was reflected in oil prices. they He grew up By about 5%, stock markets faltered as traders feared the collapse of the truce. Thus, by 14:48 Moscow time, Brent crude futures rose during trading by 4.8% to $94.75 per barrel. Thus, oil prices recovered a large part of the decline that occurred after Iran announced last April 17 that it would open the strait. Then the price of Brent crude fell by almost 10% – to $90 per barrel.