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Iran has created a government agency to vet and tax vessels seeking passage through the crucial\u00a0Strait of Hormuz, a shipping data company reported Thursday, as Tehran said it was reviewing the latest U.S. proposals for ending\u00a0the war.<\/p>\n
The Iranian effort to formalize control over the channel raised new concerns about international shipping, with hundreds of commercial ships bottled up in the Persian Gulf and unable to reach the open sea. Still, hope that the two-month conflict could soon be over\u00a0buoyed international markets.<\/p>\n
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said the Islamic Republic was reviewing messages from Pakistan, which is mediating peace negotiations, but Iran \u201chas not yet reached a conclusion, and no response has been given to the U.S. side,\u201d Iranian state TV reported.<\/p>\n
Late in the day, semiofficial Iranian news agencies said explosions were heard in southern Iran near Bandar Abbas. The reports from the Fars and Tasnim agencies did not identify the source of the blasts.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed Middle East peace efforts\u00a0at the Vatican\u00a0with Pope Leo XIV, whose opposition to the Iran war has led to open\u00a0sparring with President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n
Administration has sent mixed messages<\/p>\n
The Trump administration has sent\u00a0mixed messages\u00a0on its strategy to end the war. A tenuous ceasefire and previous declarations that military operations were over have given way to\u00a0new threats of bombing\u00a0if Tehran does not accept a deal that allows for resumption of oil and natural gas shipments disrupted by the conflict.<\/p>\n
Trump also suspended an attempt by the U.S. military to open a safe passage for commercial ships through the strait, saying the pause would allow more time to reach a peace agreement. An official in Saudi Arabia said Thursday that the kingdom and U.S. ally refused to support Trump\u2019s effort to reopen the strait by force.<\/p>\n
The ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran has largely held since April 8. But\u00a0in-person talks\u00a0between the two countries hosted by Pakistan last month failed to reach an agreement. The war began Feb. 28, when the U.S. and Israel launched strikes against Iran.<\/p>\n
Pakistan says it expects a deal soon<\/p>\n
Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar spoke by phone Thursday with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe expect an agreement sooner rather than later,\u201d Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said Thursday. \u201cWe hope the parties will reach a peaceful and sustainable solution that will contribute not only to peace in our region but to international peace as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
He declined to give a timeline.<\/p>\n
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, speaking in televised remarks, said Islamabad remained in \u201ccontinuous contact with Iran and the United States, day and night, to stop the war and extend the ceasefire.\u201d<\/p>\n
In other regional developments, direct talks\u00a0between Israel and Lebanon\u00a0were scheduled\u00a0to resume\u00a0next week in Washington, according to a U.S. official speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss plans for the closed-door meetings. The official said talks will be held May 14 and 15.<\/p>\n
Iran creates agency to control passage at Hormuz<\/p>\n
Iran established a new government agency to approve transit and collect tolls from shipping in the strait, shipping data firm Lloyd\u2019s List Intelligence said Thursday. The move has raised concerns about eroding the freedom of navigation on which global trade depends.<\/p>\n
The agency, called the Persian Gulf Strait Authority, is \u201cpositioning itself as the only valid authority to grant permission to ships transiting the strait,\u201d Lloyd\u2019s reported in an online briefing. Lloyd\u2019s said the authority had emailed it an application form for ships seeking passage.<\/p>\n
Iran has effectively closed the strait, a vital waterway for the shipment of supplies of oil, gas, fertilizer\u00a0and other petroleum products, while the U.S. is blockading Iranian ports. The disruptions have sent fuel prices skyrocketing and\u00a0rattled the global economy.<\/p>\n
The new Iranian agency formalizes an existing, albeit murky, vetting lane that takes vessels through the strait\u2019s northern waters near the Iranian coastline. Iran controls which ships are allowed to pass and, for at least some vessels, imposes a tax on their cargo.<\/p>\n
Maritime law experts say Iran\u2019s demands to vet or tax vessels violate international law. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea calls for countries to permit peaceful passage through their territorial waters.<\/p>\n
The U.S. and its Gulf allies are pushing for the\u00a0U.N. Security Council\u00a0to support a resolution that condemns Iran\u2019s chokehold on the strait and threatens sanctions. A prior resolution calling for reopening the strait was vetoed by Iran allies Russia and China.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s president reports lengthy meeting with new supreme leader<\/p>\n
Top Iranian officials have said\u00a0Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei\u00a0is playing a key role in overseeing negotiations with the U.S. But he remains in hiding and has not appeared in public since he was wounded early in the war.<\/p>\n
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said he met recently for more than two hours with Khamenei. In remarks aired Thursday on Iranian state television, Pezeshkian praised the supreme leader\u2019s \u201csincere\u201d behavior in what he said was a long in-person meeting.<\/p>\n
Khamenei has only released a series of written statements since being named supreme leader in March. He replaced his father,\u00a0Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed during the war\u2019s initial strikes.<\/p>\n
Saudi official says kingdom did not support US effort to reopen strait<\/p>\n
Trump did not consult with U.S. ally Saudi Arabia before launching the short-lived effort to force open a shipping passage through the strait, according to a Saudi official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe told them that we are not part of this and that they can\u2019t use our territories and bases for this,\u201d the official said Thursday.<\/p>\n
The official said Saudi Arabia sent a message to Iran that the kingdom would not be involved in U.S. attacks related to Trump\u2019s attempt to reopen the strait.<\/p>\n
Trump suspended the effort, dubbed Project Freedom, during its second day Tuesday. Only two American-flagged merchant ships are known to have passed through the U.S.-guarded route. The U.S. military said it sank six Iranian small boats threatening civilian ships.<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
McHugh reported from Frankfurt, Germany, and Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia. Associated Press journalists Sally Abou AlJoud, in Beirut; Elena Becatoros in Athens, Greece; Matthew Lee in Washington; Samy Magdy and Amir-Hussein Radjy in Cairo; Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Pakistan; Farnoush Amiri in New York and Nicole Winfield in Vatican City contributed to this report.<\/p>\n
#Iran #setting #agency #tax #ships #passing #Hormuz #negotiates #peace #deal<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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