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11:25
Iranian President Says US Naval Blockade ‘Doomed To Failure’
Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian said on April 30 that the US naval blockade of Iranian ports is contrary to the interests of regional countries and will ultimately fail.
In a written message read by government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani at a meeting marking Persian Gulf National Day, Pezeshkian said the security of the region “only makes sense in light of collective cooperation and mutual respect for the sovereignty of its coastal states.”
“Any attempt to impose a blockade and maritime restrictions on it is contrary to international law and against the interests of the nations of the region and global peace and stability, and is doomed to failure,” he said.
The US military began a naval blockade of Iran on the orders of US President Donald Trump on April 13, after Iran-US talks in Islamabad reached a deadlock. In contrast, Tehran, which had blocked the Strait of Hormuz since the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran on February 28, continues to tightly control the strategic waterway.
In his latest remarks, Trump said on April 29 that he intends to keep Iran under a naval blockade until Iran’s government agrees to a deal to address US concerns about its nuclear program.
The global price of crude oil reached an unprecedented jump of $126 per barrel after Trump’s announcement.
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10:09
Trump Welcomes UAE Decision To Leave OPEC
US President Donald Trump welcomed the decision by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to withdraw from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries(OPEC).
“I think it’s great,” Trump said at a news conference, calling UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan “very smart” and saying “he maybe wants to go his own way.”
OPEC is a group of major oil-producing countries that coordinate how much oil they produce to influence global oil prices.
Trump called the UAE’s move “a good thing for getting the price of gas down.”
The UAE announced on April 28 its decision to withdraw from OPEC and OPEC+ as of May 1.
This was not unexpected for experts, as the UAE’s oil production capacity is greater than the amount allocated to the country under OPEC regulations.
Trump hinted that the UAE’s decision would likely be problematic for OPEC.
Following the announcement of the UAE’s decision, oil prices temporarily declined. The impasse in Iran-US negotiations, and especially Trump’s recent announcement that the United States will continue its blockade of Iranian ports, caused another significant jump in oil prices.
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08:40
CENTCOM Says US Reaches ‘Milestone’ In Naval Blockade
US Central Command (CENTCOM) said that the United States reached a “significant milestone” on April 29 in its naval blockade of Iranian ports.
US forces had redirected the “42nd commercial vessel attempting to violate the blockade,” CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper said in a statement on X. “Right now there are 41 tankers with 69 million barrels of oil that the Iranian regime can’t sell.”
“That’s an estimated $6 billion-plus from which Iran’s leadership cannot financially benefit,” Cooper added, calling the blockade — effect since April 13 — “highly effective.”
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07:10
Russia-Iran Axis Expanding The Battlefield, US Senator Thom Tillis Warns
WASHINGTON– Senator Thom Tillis, a co-chair of the Senate NATO Observer Group and a self-described plain-spoken Republican from North Carolina, has a message for those who view the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East as isolated events: they are not.
In an era of shifting global alliances, Tillis argues that the world is facing a resurrected “Axis of Evil” led by Russia and Iran — a partnership he believes has moved far beyond a marriage of convenience into a deep, strategic military alliance.
In an interview with RFE/RL on April 29, Tillis, one of the few internal critics in the Republican party, discussed the high stakes of the current geopolitical landscape, the “unacceptable” prospect of a frozen conflict in Ukraine, and why he believes Vladimir Putin is personally responsible for American deaths.
To read the full interview, clickhere.
