U.S. sanctions Iran’s Hormuz Strait authority, warns Oman not to allow tolls

US Treasury The institution, which imposes sanctions on Iran’s “Persian Gulf Strait Authority”, became operational this month at a time when Tehran was trying to control the passage through the Strait of Hormuz.

Treasury Undersecretary Scott Bessent later warned Oman. reportedly We are in talks with Iran about charging ships passing through the important oil shipping route to avoid allowing a pricing system on the waterway.

“Oman in particular should know that the US Treasury will aggressively target all actors involved in facilitating tolls across the Bosphorus – directly or indirectly – and willing partners will be punished,” Bessent wrote in an X post Thursday morning.

The post came a day after President Donald Trump told a Cabinet meeting that “Oman will do the same as everyone else, or we’ll have to blow them up,” while insisting the strait should not be blocked.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon said Thursday morning that Iran launched a ballistic missile toward Kuwait and attacked drones in and around the Strait of Hormuz.

The new attacks, Bessent’s stern warning, Trump’s latest remarks and strengthened sanctions all point to rising tensions in the Middle East, despite recent signals from the administration and optimism in markets that a deal to end the three-month war is near.

But on Thursday morning, Axios reported It was stated that the USA and Iran have made great progress in the ongoing negotiations.

According to Axios, based on two US officials, the two sides came together on a 60-day memorandum of understanding to extend the ceasefire, which Trump had already extended indefinitely, and to start negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program.

According to Axios, Trump asked for a few days to think about the deal. While U.S. officials said the duration of the agreement was “largely agreed upon” as of Tuesday, Iran has yet to confirm that its senior leaders have signed the agreement, Axios reported.

The sanctions announced Wednesday are part of “Operation Economic Rage,” the Trump administration’s effort to squeeze Tehran’s finances and which U.S. officials say has replaced the military campaign called “Operation Epic Rage.”

“Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) is a joke and today the Treasury approved it,” Bessent said before his mission to Oman on Thursday morning. “We have warned any corporate or government entity not to pay tolls or keep them as relief payments.”

Iran and the United States continue to use force in the strait, further eroding their tenuous ceasefire that is nominally still in place and straining efforts to end the war diplomatically.

U.S. Central Command said in a statement Thursday morning that Iran “launched a ballistic missile toward Kuwait” on Wednesday night, which was “successfully intercepted by Kuwaiti forces,” calling the action “an egregious ceasefire violation.”

CENTCOM said in the X post that the attack occurred “hours after Iranian forces launched five unidirectional attack UAVs that posed a clear threat in and near the Strait of Hormuz.” “All drones were successfully intercepted by US forces, which also prevented the launch of a sixth drone from Iran’s ground control site in Bandar Abbas.”

The latest military and economic actions follow Trump’s insistence that he feels no pressure to strike a deal with Iran before midterm elections in more than five months.

“They are collapsing. Their economy is in free fall,” Trump said about Iran at Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting.

“They thought they were going to wait for me, you know. ‘We’ll wait for him, he has midterms.’ “I don’t care about the midterms,” ​​Trump said.

This is developing news. Please check back for updates.