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Six months, ships trapped
Iran’s maritime crisis reached a six-month mark as the International Maritime Organization warned that about 6,000 mariners remain trapped in the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf, with up to 400 vessels unable to leave safely since hostilities began on 28 February.
“cerca de 6.000 marineros continúan atrapados en el estrecho de Ormuz”
The El Periodista report said the IMO secretary general, Arsenio Domínguez, told that “Seis meses después del inicio del conflicto en Medio Oriente, la situación en el estrecho de Ormuz sigue sin resolverse,” linking the prolonged standoff to human consequences for crews.
El Periodista also said the IMO has counted at least 70 attacks on international shipping and 19 mariners dead since the start of the conflict between the United States and Iran.
Reuters reported from Dubai that Iran condemned new U.S. economic sanctions as “state terrorism,” while mediators stepped up efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, described as the biggest obstacle to a peace deal.
Reuters added that the strait handled 20% of world oil supplies before the war began six months ago, underscoring why reopening it is central to the dispute.
Iran rejects sanctions, urges talks
Iran’s foreign ministry said all countries were legally obliged not to implement U.S. sanctions, framing participation as complicity, as mediators pushed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Reuters quoted Iranian Foreign Ministry language branding the new U.S. measures a “crime against humanity” and warning they put the health and livelihood of millions of civilians at serious risk.
On the diplomatic track, Reuters said Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani stressed during talks with Iranian leaders in Tehran on Thursday the importance of returning to the pre-war status of open shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Reuters also reported that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi renewed his appeal to the U.S., saying on X: “pressure doesn't work,” while urging a return to negotiations.
In parallel, the U.S. Treasury Department announced additional targeted Iran-related measures, including proposed limits on Egypt’s Banque Misr for doing business with Tehran by revoking U.S. financial access to its branches in the United Arab Emirates.
Reopening conditions and leverage
As the Strait of Hormuz remained the central pressure point, Iran’s officials said Tehran was preparing a list of conditions for reopening shipping, tying any change to U.S. actions and regional ceasefires.
“Iran would only reopen the waterway if the U.S. lifted its blockade of Iranian ports”
El Periodista reported that Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said on Thursday Iran was preparing a list of conditions for reopening the strait, and noted that past conditions included an end to the U.S. blockade on Iranian ports, compensation, and removal of sanctions.
Democracy Now! said an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps spokesperson stated Iran would only reopen the waterway if the U.S. lifted its blockade of Iranian ports, while paying compensation and removing sanctions.
Reuters described U.S. military claims that American forces have cleared sea mines from the strait that had been laid months ago by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, while Admiral Brad Cooper said: “Bottom line: today, international shipping lanes are open and momentum is building.”
Reuters also reported that preliminary shipping data released on Friday showed only seven commodity vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, down from 17 a day earlier, as the status of the strait remained the biggest obstacle to a peace deal.