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The Strait of Hormuz has never been Iran’s to close or restrict and its bid to do so is an attempt to disrupt the global economy, Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and managing director and group chief executive of Adnoc has said.
The blockade of the vital waterway for global trade and energy flows is not a regional issue, “it is the disruption of a global economic lifeline and a direct threat to the energy, food and health security of every nation”, Dr Al Jaber said in a post on X on Sunday.
“Setting such a precedent is illegal, dangerous and unacceptable. The world simply cannot afford it and must not allow it.”
Since February 28, when Iran moved to block the chokepoint, at least 22 ships have been attacked and 10 crew members have been killed. Around 20,000 seafarers are unable to transit safely and an estimated 800 commercial vessels are stranded, including almost 400 tankers.
Dr Al Jaber had called for the strait to be opened with “no strings attached” last week. Despite the Pakistan-brokered ceasefire between Iran and US, conditions of which included the reopening of the strait, “access is being restricted, conditioned and controlled”, he wrote in a post on LinkedIn.
Weaponisation of the strait
Iran, through its statements and actions, has made it clear that passage is subject to permission, conditions and political leverage, which is a form of coercion and is not freedom of navigation. he said.
“The weaponisation of this vital waterway, in any form, cannot stand. This would set a dangerous precedent for the world – undermining the principle of freedom of navigation that underpins global trade and, ultimately, the stability of the global economy,” he said at the time.
Talks between the US and Iran that began on Saturday, following the ceasefire announcement last week, had failed by Sunday, US Vice President JD Vance announced, after more than 20 hours of negotiations with Iranian officials in a hotel in Islamabad.
The US and Iranian delegations have left the Pakistani capital and there is no clarity if there will be another round of negotiations. Pakistani officials have called for further talks while the ceasefire still holds.
“The bad news is we have not reached an agreement,” Mr Vance said. “We just could not get to a situation where the Iranians would accept our terms.”
The US team had left Iran with “a very simple proposal – our final and best offer”, Mr Vance said. “We’ll see if the Iranians accept it.”
US blockade
Hours after the talks in Islamabad collapsed, US President Donald Trump announced the US Navy would immediately begin blockading the Strait of Hormuz and banning ships that had paid a toll to Iran from safe transit.
He said “most points were agreed” on during the talks but not details of Iran’s nuclear programme.
“Effective immediately, the United States Navy … will begin the process of blockading any and all ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz,” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday.
US forces would also “seek and interdict every vessel in international waters that has paid a toll to Iran”.
The US President accused Tehran of “world extortion” and said the US would not allow ships that paid such tolls safe passage.
US forces would also begin clearing naval mines in the strait and warned that any Iranian attacks on US or commercial vessels would be met with force.
Other countries would be involved in the blockade, he added in his post, without providing details.
Since the US and Israel started bombing Iran and Tehran launched retaliatory strikes on its Arab neighbours at the end of February, passage through the Strait of Hormuz through which about 20 per cent of the world's oil and gas supply normally flows, remains restricted.
Shipping traffic on the waterway has dropped by about 95 per cent, causing a surge in energy prices around the world and cutting supply to several markets. Asia, in particular, has been severely disrupted.
The International Monetary Fund and World Bank have warned of serious consequences for global economic growth if Iran continues to restrict the flow of oil and gas, and commodities such as petrochemicals, metal, urea and ammonia.
