WASHINGTON/CAIRO (Reuters) – A Qatari natural gas tanker crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday for the first time since the start of the Iran war, heading for Pakistan, while Washington continued to wait for Tehran’s response to its latest proposals to begin peace talks.
After some 48 hours of relative calm following sporadic clashes last week that have shaken a month-old ceasefire, Kuwait detected several hostile drones in its airspace early on Sunday, authorities said.
But the QatarEnergy-operated carrier Al Kharaitiyat passed safely through the strait and was heading for Pakistan’s Port Qasim, according to data from shipping analytics firm Kpler, the first Qatari vessel carrying liquefied natural gas to cross the strait since the U.S. and Israel started the war on Feb 28.
Sources said earlier the transfer, which offered a modicum of relief to Pakistan after a wave of power blackouts caused by a halt to vital gas imports, had been approved by Iran to build confidence with Qatar and Pakistan, both mediators in the war.
But Iranian authorities said vessels from countries that follow U.S. sanctions against Iran would face problems crossing the Strait, the semi-official Tasnim news agency said on Sunday.
The United States is still waiting for a response from Tehran to a proposal that would formally end the war before the start of talks on more contentious issues,including Iran’s nuclear program.
A reporter for French broadcaster LCI, Margot Haddad, said on Saturday that Trump had told her in a brief interview that he still expected to find out Iran’s answer “very soon”.
With U.S. President Donald Trump due to visit China this week, there has been mounting pressure to draw a line under the war, which has ignited a global energy crisis and poses a growing threat to the world economy.
Tehran has largely blocked non-Iranian shipping through the narrow Strait of Hormuz, which before the war carried one-fifth of the world’s oil supply and which has emerged as one of the central pressure points in the war.
Iranian lawmakers have said they are drafting a bill to formalise Iran’s management of the strait, with clauses including forbidden passage to vessels of “hostile states”.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al‑Thani in Miami on Saturday and discussed the need to continue working together “to deter threats and promote stability and security across the Middle East,” the State Department said in a statement, which did not mention Iran.
Recent days have seen the biggest flare-ups in fighting in and around the strait since a ceasefire began a month ago: the United Arab Emirates came under renewed attack on Friday and sporadic clashes were reported between Iranian forces and U.S. vessels in the strait.
Washington imposed a blockade on Iranian vessels last month but Tehran has so far taken its time before responding to calls to end a war that surveys show is unpopular with U.S. voters facing ever-higher gasoline prices.
A CIA assessment indicated Iran would not suffer severe economic pressure from a U.S. blockade for about another four months, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter.
A senior intelligence official characterised as false the “claims” about the CIA analysis, which was first reported by the Washington Post.
The U.S. has also found little international support in the conflict, with NATO allies refusing calls to send ships to open the Strait of Hormuz without a full peace deal and an internationally mandated mission.
After meeting Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Friday, Rubio questioned why Italy and other allies were not backing Washington’s efforts to reopen the strait, warning of a dangerous precedent if Tehran were allowed to control an international waterway.
Britain, which has been working with France on a proposal to ensure safe transit through the strait once the situation stabilises, said on Saturday it was deploying a warship to the Middle East in preparation for such a multinational mission.
