A sharp increase in tensions in the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf yesterday threatened to end a fragile ceasefire between Iran and the United States at a time when the two sides are trying to make progress in talks to permanently end the war, writes the “Washington Post“.
The opening of the strait - a vital transport corridor for oil and gas - has been a central topic of negotiations between Iran and the United States since they agreed to a ceasefire on April 7, the publication said. The two sides have exchanged a number of proposals and held direct talks in Pakistan, but they have yet to overcome significant differences on key issues, including Iran's nuclear program. Iran is using its control of the strait as an argument to demand the unfreezing of assets and payment of war reparations.
The administration of US President Donald Trump said over the weekend that it was taking military action to open the strait, including a joint program between the State Department and international partners to enhance the exchange of information about security along the route, the “Washington Post“ noted. The US military mission to open the Strait of Hormuz, called “Project Freedom”, includes guided-missile destroyers, more than 100 naval and air force warplanes, drones, satellites, and more than 15,000 personnel, the US Central Command announced yesterday.
However, confusion currently reigns over the fate of the fragile ceasefire agreement between the US and Iran, after a series of new strikes in the United Arab Emirates and Oman, along with reports of attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, undermined confidence in the truce, the “Los Angeles Times“ reports.
Fears of renewed war have caused a new surge in oil prices, which reached above $114 a barrel – levels not seen since before the truce was signed almost a month ago, the publication points out. Hundreds of cargo ships from dozens of countries remain stranded in the Persian Gulf, and reports of strikes in Dubai have raised concerns about further disruption to international flights.
Iran blocked traffic through the strait shortly after the United States and Israel began their campaign against the country, the “Los Angeles Times“ recalls. Last month, days after a ceasefire between Washington and Tehran came into effect, the US imposed its own naval blockade of Iranian ports in an attempt to pressure Iran to make concessions in the talks.
Taking Iran's control of the strait, through which about a fifth of the world's oil passes in peacetime, would deprive Tehran of its main trump card in talks to end the war, the British newspaper “Telegraph“ wrote.
The Islamic Republic warned that commercial ships still needed its permission to pass through the strait and said that any ship that tried to cross it without its consent would be “put at risk”, the publication said. Even with US naval support, it is far from certain that many shipowners or their insurers will risk sending their vessels through the strait while Iran continues to threaten hostile action.
„Telegraph“ also quoted the head of security at the Baltic and International Maritime Council, a leading shipping trade group, as questioning whether yesterday's US actions in the strait were sustainable and saying they carried “risk of a new outbreak of hostilities“.
„Project Freedom“ could prove to be a fast track to renewed hostilities - a prospect for which the US is already preparing, writes the „Guardian“. For Trump, the US operation has the advantage of presenting the circumstances for resuming hostilities in such a way that Iran is perceived as the aggressor, the publication points out.
The other way out of the impasse is to return to the negotiating table and ultimately reach a compromise on Iran's nuclear program, similar to the one discussed when Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu started the war on February 28, the Guardian comments.
The main obstacle to reaching an agreement at the moment is the belief on each side that the other will break first, the newspaper concludes.