Main points
- US president Donald Trump said he was sticking with a naval blockade of Iranian ports amid concerns the vital Strait of Hormuz could remain closed for months
- The Trump administration says hostilities in Iran have ‘terminated’, ahead of an approaching congressional war powers deadline
- A senior UAE official said Tehran could not be trusted over any unilateral arrangements it makes for the Strait of Hormuz
- Italy and Spain have joined a growing list of countries from which Trump is threatening to pull US troops.
U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order broadening US sanctions against the Cuban government, two White House officials told Reuters, as he seeks to put more pressure on Havana after ousting Venezuela’s leader from power.
The fresh sanctions target people, entities, and affiliates that support the Cuban government’s security apparatus or are complicit in corruption or serious human rights violations, the officials said, as well as agents, officials or supporters of the government.
It was not immediately clear what people or entities were hit with sanctions under the order. The order authorises secondary sanctions for conducting or facilitating transactions with those targeted under the order, the officials said.
The new sanctions were the latest broadside by the Trump administration against Cuba, which the president has repeatedly declared is near a state of collapse.
White House declines to comment on new Iran proposal
The White House said on Friday it will not detail private diplomatic conversations when asked about Iran’s new proposal to the United States that was submitted to Pakistani mediators.
“We do not detail private diplomatic conversations. President Trump has been clear that Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon, and negotiations continue to ensure the short- and long-term national security of the United States,” spokeswoman Anna Kelly told Reuters.
Renault UK boss: ‘Seismic shift’ in electric car interest
Renault’s UK boss has said the Iran war oil price surge has started a “seismic shift upwards” in interest in electric vehicles.
Adam Wood, managing director for the French carmaker in the UK, said that buyers were realising that it was much cheaper to charge electric cars than to fill up with petrol.
Oil prices remained above $111 (€94) per barrel on Friday, with little sign that the US and Iran would reach an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key export route for a fifth of the world’s oil.
Renault said the effect of the oil price surge was translating to sales.
- West Dunbartonshire Council has still not revealed what happened to the fleet of electric cars they bought and left to rust in Clydebank.
The Renault 5 was the bestselling electric car in Britain during the month.
Wood said: “Interest in electric vehicles has undergone a seismic shift upwards following the spike in oil prices at the end of February.” – Guardian
Meanwhile, crop shipments to Iran through the Strait of Hormuz have fallen more than 40 per cent from March, with a prolonged US blockade threatening to worsen the country’s already high food inflation.
Ships loaded with grains or oilseeds bound for Iran’s Bandar Imam Khomeini port — the key gateway for such imports — are lingering at sea and not entering the Persian Gulf, according to ship tracker Kpler. The last ship to arrive at the port transited the Strait of Hormuz on April 28th.
At least six cargoes destined for the port are waiting in the Arabian Sea, with more vessels en route from Brazil, according to the data.
Currently, only two vessels with grain cargoes are docked at BIK, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. The New Pioneer arrived on Thursday, with soybean meal from Argentina. The Espada X is offloading Ukrainian corn.
Iran had sought to redirect some grain shipments to the Shahid Beheshti port in Chabahar, in the Gulf of Oman, early on in the conflict, but volumes there are limited because of the lack of infrastructure and silo facilities.
It’s also unlikely to fully offset the loss of flows into BIK because it’s located in Iran’s far southeast, away from the country’s key population centers and main livestock-producing regions, making distribution more complex and costly.
“Logistically, it’s not great. Iran needs animal feed — corn and soybeans — to feed the likes of cows and chickens, which are mostly concentrated in the northwest, near BIK,” said Madeleine Overgaard, dry market data manager at Kpler. Overall, “the US blockade does seem to have slowed down the grains’ entry to the Mideast Gulf.” – Bloomberg