Two tankers linked to Iran exit Gulf ahead of US blockade

Two oil tankers linked to Iran exited the Gulf today via the Strait of Hormuz ahead of a planned US blockade on Iranian ports and coastal areas, shipping data from Kpler and LSEG showed.

Kpler is a data analytics firm specialising in commodity tracking, while LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group) provides financial market data and infrastructure.

The tanker Auroura is laden with Iranian oil products while the New Future tanker is carrying diesel loaded from the Hamriyah port in the United Arab Emirates, Kpler data showed.

The Kremlin today criticised an announcement by US President Donald Trump that the US would blockade the Strait of Hormuz, saying this would hurt global markets.

The US military said it would block shipping traffic in and out of Iran's ports starting at 10am ET (2pm IST) today, a move that would prevent roughly two million barrels of Iranian oil a day from entering the world's markets, further tightening global supply.

The US military said it will begin a blockade of all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports and coastal areas after weekend talks failed to reach a deal to end the war with Iran, jeopardising a fragile two-week ceasefire.

The talks in Islamabad, which ran from Saturday into early yesterday, were the first direct US-Iranian meeting in more than a decade and the highest level discussions since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The negotiations came days after a ceasefire began on Tuesday, aimed at ending six weeks of fighting that has killed thousands of people across the Gulf, impacted vital supplies of energy and sparked fears of a wider regional conflict.

The US Central Command said yesterday that the US blockade, starting at 10am ET (3pm IST), would be "enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman".

Vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to and from non-Iranian ports will not be impeded, the US military said.

Additional information would be provided to commercial mariners through a formal notice prior to the start of the blockade, it said.

President Donald Trump also said US forces would intercept ‌every vessel in international waters that had paid a toll ⁠to Iran.

"No one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage on the high seas," Mr Trump wrote on social media, adding: "Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL!"
He said the US Navy will begin destroying mines that the Iranians had dropped in the Strait of Hormuz, a choke point for about 20% of global energy supplies.

While shipping data showed three supertankers fully laden with oil passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, tankers were steering clear of the waterway today ahead of the US blockade.

After Mr Trump's initial remarks yesterday, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards warned that military ‌vessels approaching the Strait of Horzmuz will be considered a ceasefire breach and dealt with harshly and decisively, underlining the risk of a dangerous escalation.

A US official said Iran rejected Washington's call for an end to all uranium enrichment, the dismantling of all major enrichment facilities and the transfer of highly enriched uranium.

Iran ⁠also refused US demands that Iran cease funding for Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis, as well as fully open the Strait of Hormuz, the official added.

Iranian media said there was agreement ‌on a number of issues, but the Strait of Hormuz and Iran's nuclear programme were the main sticking points.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Iran had "encountered ⁠maximalism, shifting goalposts and ‌blockade" when just inches away from an "Islamabad MoU".

"Zero lessons learned," he said, adding: "Good will begets goodwill.

Enmity begets enmity."
Russia is ready to take in Iran's enriched uranium as part of a future peace deal with the United States, the Kremlin said today.

"This proposal was voiced by President (Vladimir) Putin in contacts with both the United States and regional states.

The offer still stands, but has not been acted upon," the Kremlin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Six weeks of fighting has killed thousands, roiled the global economy and sent oil prices soaring as Iran prevented traffic through the Strait of Horzmuz.

The US dollar and oil rose in early trading after the failure of the talks, while stocks in Asia eased.

Mr Trump told Fox News' Sunday Briefing programme that oil and gasoline prices may remain high through November's midterm elections, ⁠a rare acknowledgement of the potential politica lfallout from the war.

Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf posted a map of Washington area gasoline prices on social media with the comment: "Enjoy the current pump figures, with the so-called 'blockade'.

Soon you'll be ⁠nostalgic for $4–$5 gas."