The Strait of Hormuz remains closed to oil tankers. What the media is writing
Since the conclusion of the truce between the United States and Iran, the Strait of Hormuz has remained closed to the passage of oil tankers. US President Donald Trump demanded to open it, threatening to break the agreement on the eve of negotiations in Pakistan. At the same time, Tehran insists on the cessation of hostilities in Lebanon as a condition for the opening of the strait. What the media write about the situation in the Persian Gulf is in the Izvestia digest.
CNN: Ships still do not pass through the Strait of Hormuz
The fragile truce, which has mostly calmed the skies over the Middle East, is preventing shippers from mustering the courage to cross the narrow waterway on which 20% of the world's oil reserves depend. Although the Strait of Hormuz is officially opening for business, shipping executives and analysts said the uncertainty surrounding the truce still makes transit too risky at the moment.
CNN
On Wednesday [April 8], the news of the two-week cease-fire led to a sharp drop in oil prices and a sharp rise in stocks, reflecting the importance of the strait to global trade. However, this growth has been replaced by a sobering moment: despite President Donald Trump's repeated assurances of the strait's openness, only a few ships have passed through it in recent days. After a double-digit drop in the oil price, it is again approaching the $100 per barrel mark.
It may take six months to restore shipping to the pre-war levels. According to Lloyd's List, a shipping data processing company, more than 100 cargo ships passed through this waterway every day before the conflict began. This means that the economic consequences of the war — rising energy prices and their various indirect effects — are likely to persist after the end of hostilities. More than 400 oil tankers, 34 liquefied petroleum gas tankers and 19 liquefied natural gas vessels remain in the region.
Bloomberg: Trump demands to open the Strait of Hormuz
Trump demanded that Iran reopen the Strait of Hormuz, increasing pressure on Tehran before starting negotiations on turning a fragile truce into a lasting peace. He also warned against charging fees to tankers passing through the waterway. A meeting of the US and Iranian delegations is due to take place in Pakistan on April 11, at which shipping through the strait, through which about a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas supplies passed before the war, will become a central stumbling block.
Bloomberg
"Iran is doing a very bad job, some would say dishonorably, of passing oil through the Strait of Hormuz. This is not the agreement we have! — Trump wrote on Thursday in a message on Truth Social. "You will see how oil supplies will start, with or without Iran's help, and in my opinion it doesn't matter."
Trump said he was "optimistic" about the Iran deal. He called the Iranian leaders "much more reasonable" than their public statements would suggest. He also said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was "going to act with restraint" regarding the airstrikes on Lebanon after a telephone conversation between the two leaders. Iranian President Masoud Peseshkian has said that Israeli strikes on Lebanon, where he is fighting with Tehran-backed Hezbollah militants, are a "clear violation" of the ceasefire and will make planned peace talks "meaningless."
Reuters: truce is under threat ahead of talks
The tenuous two-week truce between the United States and Iran, a day before the start of negotiations in Pakistan, is becoming even more fragile. Washington accused Tehran of violating promises on the Strait of Hormuz, and Israel launched strikes on Lebanon, which, according to Iran, violates the truce. There were no signs of Iran lifting the almost complete blockade of the strait, which caused the most serious disruptions in world energy supplies in history. Tehran called the ongoing Israeli attacks on Lebanon, including the most massive strikes in the entire war on April 8, a key stumbling block.
Reuters
On Friday morning [April 10], the Israeli military said it had attacked ten launchers in Lebanon, which fired rockets towards northern Israel on Thursday evening, and that the Iranian-allied militant group Hezbollah had fired a rocket at Israel, triggering air sirens. <...> Hezbollah stated that the target was the Israeli military infrastructure in the northern city of Haifa. The US and Israel have said the latest ceasefire agreement does not apply to Lebanon, which Israel invaded last month — in parallel with the war against Iran — to root out Hezbollah.
However, Iran and Pakistan, which acted as a mediator, claim that Lebanon was an integral part of the agreement. Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, who will lead the Iranian delegation opposite U.S. Vice President Jay Dee Vance, said Lebanon and Iran's other regional allies are an integral part of any cease-fire. Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei has said Iran will avenge the war.
Politico: Merz rejects involvement in securing Strait of Hormuz
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Berlin would not participate in securing the Strait of Hormuz until the end of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, ruling out concrete steps in the coming days despite pressure from the Trump administration. European leaders have repeatedly stated that they will help reopen the disputed waterway after the cessation of hostilities, but it is unclear what this will look like in practice.
Politico
"We are ready to help after reaching a peace agreement," Merz said. "President Trump knows that Germany needs two conditions for this," the chancellor continued, adding that Germany "will need an international mandate, preferably from the UN Security Council," and a "resolution from the German Bundestag," according to the country's rules regarding foreign military operations.
Merz told reporters that he explained to Trump over the phone that Germany would participate in ensuring safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz only after the end of the war and subject to certain conditions. The German leader called the cease-fire a "ray of hope," but warned that "only in the last 24 hours has it become clear how fragile the truce in the region is, how uncertain the situation in the Strait of Hormuz remains and how far apart the positions of the parties involved are."
Financial Times: North Sea oil prices hit record high
Due to the rush by European and Asian refineries to purchase oil, oil prices in the North Sea have reached record highs, while Iran's control over the Strait of Hormuz is raising new concerns in the market. On April 9, the price of Forties Blend crude oil for immediate delivery reached almost $147 per barrel, exceeding the maximum recorded on the eve of the 2008 financial crisis.
Financial Times
Traders are scrambling for oil cargoes to replace the huge volumes stuck in the Persian Gulf. Physical barrels from the North Sea were sold at a price significantly higher than about $97 per barrel of Brent, the international benchmark, for delivery in June. This is another sign of concerns about shortages in the oil market.
Mounting signs of tension suggest that the global energy crisis is getting worse, despite Trump's assurances that Tehran will soon reopen the Strait of Hormuz. In recent days, oil exports through it have been only 8% of the usual level. Asia is particularly vulnerable to supply disruptions, as about 80% of the oil and petroleum products it needs are transported by waterways.
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