Iran blames US, Israel for Hormuz tensions as crisis threatens energy supplies | US-Israel war over Iran news

Iran’s Araghi has called for global condemnation of the US-Israeli ‘military aggression’ that disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghi has blamed the United States-Israel war for disrupting shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global artery through which one-fifth of the world’s oil traffic passes.

In a telephone conversation with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday, Araghchi urged every country and international organization concerned with peace and security to condemn the US and Israel and demand an end to their military aggression against Iran, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency said.

Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, rose 2.5 percent to $105.70 a barrel on Monday. That was more than 40 percent before the war began on February 28.

Several nations are reportedly negotiating with Iran for safe passage after a senior adviser to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) declared the strait “closed” on March 2 and threatened to “burn” shipping vessels.

Araghchi said on Monday that the strait is “open, but closed to our enemies”.

US President Donald Trump over the weekend called on the Naval Alliance to join the US Navy in securing the waterway, but no countries have so far pledged to join. He specifically asked NATO member states to join the alliance, threatening them with a “very bad fate” if they failed to help the US.

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Tuesday that the bloc was seeking diplomatic solutions to guarantee transit through the Strait of Hormuz and mitigate the impact of rising fuel prices on global financial and energy markets.

The EU is not looking to expand its Aspides mission, set up in 2024 to protect ships from attacks by Yemen’s Houthis in the Red Sea, the official said. Ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday, Kallas had suggested that expanding Aspides was a “quick” way to boost security in the Strait of Hormuz.

“No one is willing to put their people in harm’s way,” the foreign policy chief told Reuters news agency. “After the cessation of hostilities, the case may be different.”

Kallas said the US and Israel had launched a war in Iran without consulting the EU and despite the bloc’s calls for restraint. “This is not Europe’s war,” he said. “We are America’s allies, but we don’t really understand their moves lately.”

The head of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) said naval convoys through the Strait of Hormuz do not “100% guarantee” the safety of ships attempting to transit the waterway.

Arsenio Dominguez told the Financial Times that military aid to open the strait is “not a long-term or sustainable solution”.

Iraq’s Oil Minister Hayan Abdul-Ghani told Al Jazeera on Tuesday that the country had reached an understanding with Iran to allow its oil tankers to cross the Strait of Hormuz.

A spokesperson for India’s External Affairs Ministry dismissed reports that New Delhi had discussed with Iran the return of three seized Iran-related tankers as part of a security arrangement.

The comment follows reports that Iran had demanded the return of tankers seized near Iranian waters in February in return for ensuring safe passage of Indian-flagged or India-bound vessels through the Strait of Hormuz.