Strait of Hormuz: Iran warns of new costs

News blog about the war in the Middle East

Strait of Hormuz: Iran warns of new costs

Iran does not want to manage the Strait of Hormuz for nothing. Donald Trump is urging Muslim countries to make a deal with Israel. All developments in the news blog.

Iranian President Massoud Peseschkian has ordered the restoration of international internet access, according to state media. The Ministry of Communications announced this. According to the monitoring organization NetBlocks, most Iranians have been cut off from the internet for 87 days. Only some citizens could circumvent the government blocks using expensive VPN services.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Moschtaba Khamenei was injured. His Ministry of Health now speaks of harmless injuries. Read more about this here.

Iran has responded to reports of a possible deal with the US to end the war. Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei confirmed talks about a framework agreement in Tehran on Monday, but dampened expectations of a quick agreement.

The agreement also deals with the opening of the Strait of Hormuz. Around 20 percent of global oil and gas shipments pass through the strait. Iran had massively restricted shipping traffic there since the beginning of the conflict. According to Iranian state media, Tehran and Oman are currently discussing new rules for the passage of ships.

Baghaei ruled out possible “tolls” for the waterway, but promised new costs. “It is only natural that the services we provide, such as navigation and protection of the Strait’s ecosystem, come at a cost,” he said. These “should not be viewed as tolls.” Baghaei claimed: “It’s not about money for us.”

US President Donald Trump has called on several countries in the Muslim world to join the so-called Abraham Accords on normalizing relations with Israel as part of a possible peace agreement with Iran. In a long post on his network Truth Social on Monday, Trump listed the countries whose leaders he would have spoken to on Saturday about ways to end the Iran war. It should be “mandatory” for these countries, Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan and Pakistan, to sign the Abraham Accords at the same time.

“It would be possible that one or two (of the countries) would have a reason not to participate, and that would be accepted, but most should be ready and willing to do so, making this deal with Iran a far more historic event than it would otherwise be,” Trump wrote. Saudi Arabia and Qatar should sign immediately and everyone else should follow. “If they don’t, they shouldn’t be part of this deal because it shows bad intentions.”