The development of the conflict in the Middle East continues to be a leading topic in the Western press, after US President Donald Trump first threatened the US to introduce fees for passage through the Strait of Hormuz, but then abandoned his intentions, BTA reported.
Great Britain
The US is pursuing a risky policy in the Strait of Hormuz, writes in the headline of an editorial in the British newspaper "Financial Times".
The publication notes that Trump seems trapped, but Iran is probably overestimating its capabilities.
This week marks the expiration of half of the framework agreement that the US and Iran signed last month to extend the ceasefire by 60 days, and which was crucial for President Donald Trump to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The hope was that by the 30th day, which falls today, the mines would be cleared from the waterway and shipping would return to pre-war levels, with no tolls collected.
Instead, after days of exchanging blows, Iran announced over the weekend that it was closing the strait completely again. The US president then said he would reimpose a naval blockade of Iranian ports that he had lifted after signing the memorandum of understanding. Frustrated by his inability to impose his will on Iran, Trump said on Monday that the US would impose a 20 percent tariff on cargo passing through the strait, but yesterday he backed away from the idea.
All of this would be absurd if it weren't so serious. The longer shipping through the strait remains blocked, the greater the losses to the global economy, especially to poorer energy-importing countries, the Financial Times notes.
Before the war, a fifth of the world's oil and gas trade passed through the narrow waterway, along with petrochemicals, helium and fertilizer raw materials. The longer the US and Iran fight for control of it, the greater the risk that a cycle of escalation could drag the region back into full-scale war.
This tangled situation once again highlights the recklessness of a war launched by Trump against the advice of many of his allies and without sufficient knowledge of his enemy. The crisis, triggered by Trump himself, has given Tehran a new advantage in the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has never closed before. It has also led to the rise of a more belligerent leadership, emboldened by its ability to withstand US-Israeli bombing and to increase the cost to the global economy.
The Islamic regime is determined not to cede control of the waterway. And despite Trump’s insistence that the US can reopen the strait, there is no chance of shipping returning to any kind of normality while Iran attacks ships.
Tehran has recklessly overestimated its capabilities. In the memorandum of understanding, it pledged to “take measures, making every effort to ensure the safe passage of commercial vessels” through the Strait of Hormuz. Instead, it attacks ships there daily. For all its belligerence, the Islamic Republic has suffered devastating blows during the war, and its economy is in crisis, with inflation soaring to around 90 percent. The angrier Trump gets, the greater the risk that he will launch a massive strike, targeting critical civilian infrastructure, as he has threatened to do, the Financial Times points out.
There is still a way out. The memorandum of understanding was widely criticized, but it offered an alternative to endless war and was never intended as a final agreement. It was designed to encourage de-escalation, allowing negotiations for a final peace settlement, including on Iran's nuclear program. It gave both sides an incentive to pursue the diplomatic path. For Trump, the resumption of traffic through the strait would at least begin to ease the global energy shortage. For Iran, it would mean the beginning of the unblocking of billions of dollars in its frozen assets abroad. The significant sanctions relief that Tehran seeks could only come with a final agreement.
The struggle for control of the Strait of Hormuz has turned this process upside down. The key problem is that Iran interprets the text of the memorandum of understanding as giving it the right to retain control of the waterway. The United States, for its part, has encouraged ships to avoid Iranian waters and use a route along the coast of Oman, which weakens Tehran's influence. Until this dispute is resolved, the path to a diplomatic end to the war remains blocked. The only way out of this impasse is for the warring parties to return to the negotiating table and work with mediators to reach a mutually acceptable solution to the strait. Otherwise, they will remain trapped in a deadly and dangerous game in which neither side can win, the British publication notes.
Trump has again threatened to strike Iranian power plants amid the impasse over the Strait of Hormuz, another British publication, the Guardian, headlines.
Donald Trump has threatened to expand US strikes against Iran next week, targeting power plants and bridges if Tehran does not agree to a deal amid the ongoing dispute over control of the Strait of Hormuz.
"Next week is going to be a very bad week for them, because next week we are going to get to the power plants [...] to the bridges," the US president said yesterday in an interview with "Fox News". "We are going to destroy all of their power plants. "We will destroy all their bridges unless they sit down at the negotiating table and start talking," he added.
Trump made similar comments in March, when he threatened to "wipe Iran's power plants and drinking water treatment plants off the face of the earth" if Tehran did not agree to his peace terms "as soon as possible." Destroying civilian infrastructure, such as power plants and water facilities, would be illegal under international humanitarian law and likely constitute a war crime, the Guardian notes.
Trump's comments came as US forces carried out strikes on Iran for a fourth day in a row and re-imposed a naval blockade of the country's ports in the Strait of Hormuz.
The prospects for talks aimed at reaching a lasting ceasefire after the signing of a fragile framework agreement on June 17 look increasingly bleak. Iran's deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, said the US decision to renew the blockade "in a sense invalidates the Islamabad memorandum."
When asked how long the US strikes would continue, Trump said: "They will continue until I say enough is enough." "We will knock out all their power plants, we will knock out all their bridges if they don't come to the negotiating table," he said.
USA
Oil prices have jumped again after Trump's threats about the Strait of Hormuz, the American newspaper "Washington Post" wrote in a headline.
The latest exchange of blows between Washington and Tehran last night follows days of armed clashes in which commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz have been targeted as the two sides fight for control of the narrow waterway - a critical sea route for about 20 percent of the world's oil and natural gas supplies. The framework agreement signed by the US and Iran in June effectively collapsed after failed talks over the weekend, the American newspaper noted.
Oil prices hit a one-month high yesterday, with Brent crude futures rising above $86 a barrel after President Donald Trump said the US would levy a 20 percent levy on all cargo transported through the Strait of Hormuz "to cover all costs necessary to ensure safety and security in this extremely volatile region of the world." Trump later said he was abandoning those plans and would instead pursue trade and investment deals with Gulf states.
The prospect of imposing fees for passage through the strait has worried maritime authorities and shipping industry representatives, who have strongly condemned the idea, saying freedom of navigation is an essential part of international law, the Washington Post reported.
France
US strikes Iran again, renews naval blockade, French newspaper Le Monde headlines.
The US military carried out strikes against Iran for the fourth day in a row yesterday and re-imposed a naval blockade to prevent ships from sailing to or from the country's ports. The military escalation comes after US President Donald Trump backed down from his threat to impose heavy tariffs on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, saying that Gulf states had agreed to make significant investments in the US, Le Monde reported.
According to Agence France-Presse figures based on Iranian media and official statements, renewed US attacks have killed at least 28 people in Iran since last week.
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said the latest strikes were aimed at "weakening Iranian capabilities used to attack commercial shipping" in the Strait of Hormuz, where Tehran has repeatedly carried out attacks on merchant ships. Iranian state media reported explosions near the port city of Bandar Abbas, on the island of Qeshm in the Persian Gulf, near the Strait of Hormuz, and elsewhere.
The renewed naval blockade came into effect at 20:00 GMT (23:00 Bulgarian time) - an hour after the US strikes began - and according to Tehran, this measure effectively invalidates the framework agreement concluded with Washington in order to allow for peace talks, notes "Monde".