{"id":7803,"date":"2026-07-11T17:35:28","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T17:35:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/07\/11\/hormuz-shipping-in-focus-as-iran-us-rhetoric-heats-up\/"},"modified":"2026-07-11T17:35:28","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T17:35:28","slug":"hormuz-shipping-in-focus-as-iran-us-rhetoric-heats-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/07\/11\/hormuz-shipping-in-focus-as-iran-us-rhetoric-heats-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Hormuz shipping in focus as Iran-US rhetoric heats up"},"content":{"rendered":"<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p><strong>Tehran, Iran \u2013<\/strong> Iran and the United States have offered clashing narratives over the fate of ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz as they continue to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/7\/11\/trump-threatens-iran-after-chants-for-his-death-erupted-at-khamenei-funeral\">trade threats<\/a>, even as they maintain contact through mediators.<\/p>\n<p>Iranian state media on Saturday released the latest statement attributed to Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not been seen or heard from since being selected as the new supreme leader by a clerical body in March.<\/p>\n<section>\n<h2>Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n<p><span>list of 4 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>list 1 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/7\/10\/trump-says-us-has-agreed-to-continue-iran-talks-but-ceasefire-over\">Trump hints at further Iran negotiations after exchange of fire over Hormuz<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 2 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/video\/inside-story\/2026\/7\/10\/can-the-agreement-between-iran-and-the-us-be-rescued\">Can the agreement between Iran and the US be rescued?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 3 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/video\/newsfeed\/2026\/7\/11\/are-the-us-and-iran-at-war-again\">Are the US and Iran at war again?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 4 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/features\/2026\/7\/11\/what-is-going-on-in-yemen\">What is going on in Yemen?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>\u201cWe pledge to avenge your pure blood, and the blood of all the martyrs of these two wars, upon the criminal and disgraced killers. This revenge is the demand of our nation, and it must certainly be carried out,\u201d Khamenei said about\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/7\/9\/iran-prepares-to-bury-slain-leader-khamenei-after-mass-funeral-ceremonies\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">his father<\/a>, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was assassinated on the first day of the war launched by the US and Israel on February 28.<\/p>\n<p>He emphasised that this was state policy and did not hinge on any single official. \u201cSoon, individuals among the free people of the world will each carry out a part of this divine mission,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4759782\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4759782\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/getty_6a524e046d-1783778820.jpg?w=770&#038;resize=770%2C513&#038;quality=80\" alt=\"MASHHAD, IRAN - JULY 09: Thousands of mourners gather for the burial of Iran's late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the Imam Reza Shrine on July 09, 2026 in Mashhad, Iran. Khamenei and members of his family were killed on February 28 during U.S.-Israeli strikes at the beginning of the war, bringing an end to his 36-year rule over Iran. His body was laid to rest today in his hometown of Mashhad, Iran, following a six-day state funeral that began on July 4 and took place across multiple cities in Iran and Iraq. (Photo by Majid Saeedi\/Getty Images)\" fetchpriority=\"low\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4759782\">Thousands of mourners gather for the burial of Iran\u2019s late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, at the Imam Reza Shrine in Mashhad on July 9 [Majid Saeedi\/Getty Images]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Khamenei\u2019s comments echoed calls for vengeance by hardline religious-backed factions during this week\u2019s funeral ceremonies for Ali Khamenei.<\/p>\n<p>In Mashhad, where Ali Khamenei <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/7\/9\/iran-prepares-to-bury-slain-leader-khamenei-after-mass-funeral-ceremonies\">was buried<\/a> on Friday, chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and other officials in favour of talks with the US sat in attendance as crowds shouted, \u201cNegotiations with the enemy is betraying the homeland\u201d. In an animated televised speech, Ali Khomeini, a grandson of Ruhollah Khomeini, who established the Islamic Republic after a 1979 revolution, said that \u201canyone who wishes to negotiate to reach peace with America is a traitor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said, without elaborating, that he believes he is first on the \u201ckill list for Iran\u201d and that he has left instructions to retaliate if an attempt on his life was made.<\/p>\n<p>A thousand \u201cMissiles are Locked and Loaded and aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran\u201d, he wrote on his Truth Social platform. \u201cOrders have already been given, and the U.S. Military is ready, willing, and able, \u2060for a one year period of time, subject to extension, to completely decimate and destroy all areas of Iran,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Trump said he considers the repeatedly breached \u201cceasefire\u201d to be over following the latest <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/7\/8\/us-says-conducting-new-wave-of-strikes-on-iran-as-ceasefire-falters-2\">exchange of attacks<\/a> between the two sides earlier this week, but that mediated talks could continue. On Friday, Qatari mediators <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/7\/10\/trump-says-us-has-agreed-to-continue-iran-talks-but-ceasefire-over\">visited<\/a> Iran for meetings aimed at de-escalating tension with the US, while on Saturday Iranian Foreign Minister travelled to Oman for talks.<\/p>\n<p>Ali Vaez, the Crisis Group\u2019s Iran Project director, said revenge rhetoric is for domestic consumption while diplomacy is aimed at preventing another punishing round of war.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTrump\u2019s declaration that the ceasefire is over raises the costs of talks, but not necessarily their utility. Both sides appear to recognise that the alternative is an escalation neither can afford or reliably control,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>On Friday, unnamed senior officials in the Trump administration claimed during a briefing with US media outlets that Iranian officials privately told Washington that an \u201cerrant\u201d faction of hardliners were trying to undermine negotiations through launching attacks in the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n<p>US reporting also suggested that the Trump team expected Araghchi, after his meetings in Oman, to either publicly admit or implicitly acknowledge that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/7\/9\/us-iran-launch-more-attacks-as-mediators-urge-warring-sides-to-uphold-mou\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">hitting the tankers and commercial ships<\/a>\u00a0earlier this week was a mistake.<\/p>\n<p>Vaez said the claim about Iran\u2019s private messaging is implausible but convenient for the US as blaming the hardline faction leaves the door to diplomacy ajar.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe real test is not what Iranian officials reportedly said in private, but whether both sides can find a way to stop exchanging fire and return to exchanging words,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>While Washington\u2019s narrative leaves a diplomatic off-ramp open and attempts to build pressure on Tehran, the official account from Iranian authorities has emphasised that they intend to exercise a degree of control over transit through the strait.<\/p>\n<p>Tehran also considers any movement through a US-backed southern route crossing near Oman \u2013 as well as <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/7\/8\/iran-signals-defiance-as-trump-fumes-over-strait-of-hormuz-strikes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">rescinding of oil sanction waivers<\/a> \u2013 to have run counter to the memorandum of understanding (MoU) reached between the two sides last month. It has further insisted on control over the full reopening or demining of the strait through which one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas passes in peacetime.<\/p>\n<p>Iran\u2019s Ambassador to the United Nations Amir Saeid Iravani told reporters outside the Security Council in New York on Friday that any attempt by\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/7\/10\/trump-says-us-has-agreed-to-continue-iran-talks-but-ceasefire-over\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">external actors<\/a> to \u201cinterfere with or establish a power arrangement\u201d would violate the MoU and delay the\u00a0full restoration of maritime traffic.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4758437\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4758437\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/reuters_6a5165b7-1783719351.jpg?w=770&#038;resize=770%2C513&#038;quality=80\" alt=\"Amir-Saeid Iravani, Iran's Ambassador to the United Nations, speaks during a stakeout after the United Nations Security Council meeting on the situation in Iran, at United Nations headquarters in New York City, U.S., July 10, 2026. REUTERS\/Eduardo Munoz\" fetchpriority=\"low\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4758437\">Amir-Saeid Iravani, Iran\u2019s ambassador to the UN, speaks during a stakeout after the UN Security Council meeting on the situation in Iran, at UN headquarters in New York City, US [Eduardo Munoz\/Reuters]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In a statement on Thursday, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy said traffic in the Strait of Hormuz had gradually recovered to about 50 percent of pre-war levels through Iran\u2019s cooperation before the latest strikes, but that ships must only pass through designated routes while foreigners \u201cwill have no share\u201d in managing the strait.<\/p>\n<p>The central command of armed forces also pledged a day earlier that \u201cunder no circumstances\u201d would it permit US or foreign interference in the management of the strait.<\/p>\n<p>To implement this policy and coordinate authorised transit, Iran has established the Persian Gulf Strait Authority.<\/p>\n<p>But the governing council of the UN\u2019s shipping agency, the London-based International Maritime Organization (IMO), on Friday \u201cstrongly condemned\u201d Iran\u2019s decision to \u201cestablish an entity purporting to control traffic through the strait\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The IMO called on its 176 member states not to recognise \u201cIran\u2019s \u200cclaim \u2060of sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, its assertions of jurisdiction over the maritime zones of third states in and around the strait, which violated the sovereignty, sovereign rights and exclusive jurisdiction of these states\u201d and not to recognise any Iranian decisions aimed at \u201cclosing, obstructing, hampering or otherwise interfering with international navigation and the right of transit passage\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Also on Friday, the US Department of the Treasury <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/7\/10\/us-iran-war-will-peace-talks-ever-resume-and-when\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">imposed its first new sanctions<\/a> related to Iran since the signing of the MoU on June 17, designating several individuals and entities in stated retaliation for attacks on international shipping in the strait. They included <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/10\/27\/corruption-mismanagement-in-spotlight-as-iran-dissolves-major-private-bank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ali Ansari<\/a>, a \u201cfinancial facilitator\u201d with reported links to Mojtaba Khamenei, as well as a number of currency exchange houses.<\/p>\n<p>Negar Mortazavi, a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy, said \u201cthere may be internal disagreements in Tehran over tactics and the level of military pressure\u201d but added the Hormuz confrontation is rooted in a \u201cbroader dispute\u201d over the implementation of the MoU.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIran believes commercial passage through the strait must be arranged in coordination with Tehran, while the United States appears to be trying to impose its own interpretation without that coordination,\u201d said Mortazavi.<\/p>\n<p>Noting that Iran \u201chas not closed the door to talks\u201d, Mortazavi said Tehran will use calibrated military pressure to establish its interpretation of the Mo while continuing negotiations. \u201cIran believes diplomacy without deterrence would give the United States and Israel time to regroup and resume the war later,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tehran, Iran \u2013 Iran and the United States have offered clashing narratives over the fate of ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz as they continue to trade threats, even as they maintain contact through mediators. Iranian state media on Saturday released the latest statement attributed to Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not been seen or &#8230; <a title=\"Hormuz shipping in focus as Iran-US rhetoric heats up\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/07\/11\/hormuz-shipping-in-focus-as-iran-us-rhetoric-heats-up\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Hormuz shipping in focus as Iran-US rhetoric heats up\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7804,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7803","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7803"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7803\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}