An Announcement To Reopen The Strait Of Hormuz Remains Elusive. Traffic Is Down To a Trickle

Traffick through the Strait of Hormuz has slowed down to a trickle as an announcement to reopen the waterway remains elusive even though parties say it is close.

Only two vessels traveled through the waterway on Wednesday, according to intelligence firm Kpler. The figure was down from eight a day prior and stood between 130 and 140 a day before the war began in February.

President Donald Trump has insisted that the strait is “sort of open right now” but said that even though “we control it,” Tehran forces “can always shoot something, they always have something, or drop a mine, and if you have one mine out there you sort of mess things up, because people don’t want to take their billion-dollar boats and accidentally get hit by a mine.”

However, Iran’s top negotiator accused Trump of “theater diplomacy” and calling him to “acknowledge the facts and fulfill your commitments.”

“‘Massive attack coming… wait, never mind, they want to negotiate.’ That’s theater diplomacy on loop,” Mohamed Ghalibaf said in a social media publication.

“Using bullying + broken promises + fake news as leverage is a failed strategy. Acknowledge the facts and fulfill your commitments. We don’t need more theater,” he added.

Iranian state outlet Fars claimed on Thursday that the potential deal would exclude American and Israeli ships from transiting.

The outlet, according to an account from CNBC, claimed that cargo or other vessels from Israel would also be prevented from passing through the waterway. “Countries and individuals that have caused damage to Iran” would fall into the same category until harm made to the country is “compensated,” the outlet added, citing a member of the country’s parliament.

Iran will also issue penalties of up to 20% of the value of the vessel’s cargo if the new rules are violated. They are a framework to resume negotiations between Tehran and Washington, which would begin a new 60-day period.

Tensions also remain high in the Bab el-Mandeb strait. Kpler detailed that only one dry bulk carrier made it through on Wednesday, compared to 20 the previous day. That after Yemen’s Houthis said they attacked two Saudi tankers in the Gulf of Aden.

Saudi Arabia said it is expecting “multiple coordinated attacks” from Iran-backed militias, including the Houthis and Iraq-based forces. The kingdom said the strike is imminent and will be conducted under the guidance of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.