WASHINGTON — The United States and Iran traded increasingly hostile messages on Saturday ahead of Washington’s planned announcement of new economic sanctions, while a limited Iranian decision to allow some Iraqi oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz offered a rare sign of flexibility amid a broader shutdown of commercial traffic.
The developments came as the conflict between the two countries approached its six-month mark. Although the United States and Iran were not exchanging fire on Saturday, there was no active peace process either, with Washington preparing additional economic pressure and Tehran continuing to use control over the strategic waterway as leverage. Reuters reported that U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is scheduled to hold a press conference Monday to outline what he has described as the “toughest sanctions in history” against Iran.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei rejected the impending measures, saying secondary sanctions against countries doing business with Iran have no basis in international law. The planned U.S. measures could affect Iran’s major trading partners, particularly China, which accounted for more than 80% of Iran’s shipped oil purchases in 2025, according to data from energy analytics firm Kpler cited by Reuters. Beijing has urged Washington and Tehran to pursue diplomacy rather than intensify economic pressure.
U.S. President Donald Trump has continued to insist that Tehran is not prepared to accept what he considers an acceptable agreement. He has also warned countries against providing Iran with what he calls a “lifeline,” signaling that the forthcoming sanctions could extend beyond Iranian entities and place pressure on foreign companies and governments that continue to trade with Tehran.
The dispute over the Strait of Hormuz remains central to the confrontation. Reuters reported that oil shipments through the waterway have virtually halted as Iran threatens to attack unauthorized tankers attempting to transit the strait. The United States, meanwhile, maintains a naval blockade aimed at restricting Iranian trade.
Iran nevertheless granted special permission for a number of Iraqi oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz after repeated requests from Baghdad, according to Iran’s state news agency IRNA. The issue was reportedly among Iraq’s principal requests during Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf’s recent visit to Iraq. Iraqi President Nizar Amedi said Iran had facilitated the passage of vessels carrying Iraqi oil in recent days, although he described the broader issue as complicated.
The number of tankers authorized to cross and the precise timing of their passages were not disclosed. The limited authorization does not represent a reopening of the waterway to normal commercial traffic. Reuters said traffic remains far below pre-war levels and ships continue to face attacks in the area.
Iraq has been particularly vulnerable to the disruption because of its dependence on oil exports. Before the war, Iraq was producing about 4 million barrels of oil per day. Baghdad is now working to expand alternative export routes, including through Turkey’s Ceyhan port and proposed routes through Syria’s Baniyas port and Jordan’s Aqaba port, Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi said Friday.
The strategic importance of Hormuz extends well beyond Iraq. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said oil flows through the strait averaged about 20.9 million barrels per day in the first half of 2025, equivalent to roughly one-fifth of global petroleum liquids consumption and about one-quarter of global maritime oil trade. About 89% of crude oil and condensate moving through the strait during that period was destined for Asian markets, with China, India, Japan and South Korea accounting for most of those flows.
The strait is also a major LNG route. EIA estimated that about one-fifth of global liquefied natural gas trade passed through Hormuz in 2024, with Qatar accounting for the overwhelming majority of LNG shipped through the waterway from the Persian Gulf.
The current confrontation also has a long historical backdrop. U.S.-Iran economic sanctions date to the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis, when President Jimmy Carter froze Iranian government and central bank assets in the United States in November 1979. In April 1980, after diplomatic relations were severed, Carter imposed additional economic sanctions and prohibited U.S. exports to Iran.
More than four decades later, sanctions remain a central instrument of U.S. policy toward Tehran, but the current crisis is significantly broader, involving military confrontation, restrictions on oil exports and the struggle over one of the world’s most important energy chokepoints.
Within Iran, the economic consequences are increasingly difficult for the government to ignore. Iranian Parliament Speaker Qalibaf, who has also been involved in mediated discussions with Washington, recently acknowledged that military strength alone would not be sufficient if the country’s economy could not generate growth, production and financial activity. President Masoud Pezeshkian has likewise called for a diplomatic resolution, while Iranian military officials have continued to threaten retaliation.
The competing messages underscore the widening gap between military pressure and diplomacy. Washington is preparing another major sanctions campaign, while Tehran continues to insist on conditions for reopening Hormuz and threatens retaliation against unauthorized shipping. The limited permission granted to Iraqi tankers demonstrates that Iran can make selective exceptions, but it has not yet signaled a broader restoration of normal maritime traffic.
For global energy markets, the stakes remain substantial. With normal tanker traffic through Hormuz severely disrupted, any further escalation could affect oil and gas supplies well beyond the Middle East, particularly in Asia, where most of the energy normally moving through the strait is ultimately consumed.
Edgardo Hernal started college at UP Diliman and received his BA in Economics from San Sebastian College, Manila, and Masters in Information Systems Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Oak Brook, IL. He has 25 years of copy editing and management experience at Thomson West, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters.
- EDGARDO HERNAL
- EDGARDO HERNAL
- EDGARDO HERNAL
- EDGARDO HERNAL
