⚓ TRUMP: NEGOTIATING FROM "PURE STRENGTH": President Trump said: "We knocked the hell out of them, and now we're negotiating from a position of pure strength... We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon."
He added: "They want to make a deal with us very badly... The Strait is open. Yesterday, they took out 19 million barrels of oil. That's the most in the history of the Strait. And the oil prices are dropping like a rock."
According to an Iranian source cited by The New York Times, Iran launched a drone toward a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz to disrupt passage after Oman approved an alternative shipping route without coordinating with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The report said Tehran was angered by Oman's move amid competing U.S. demands for free navigation and Iran's insistence on controlling shipping routes. Iran maintains Oman cannot guarantee maritime security without Iranian approval and that no outside party will interfere with its control of the strait.
Fars News Agency reported Revolutionary Guard forces halted three foreign oil tankers attempting unauthorized passage, forcing them to turn back into the Persian Gulf.
The UN International Maritime Organization has paused its ship evacuation operation after the Singapore-flagged container ship Ever Lovely was struck near Oman by what is believed to have been an Iranian drone projectile while sailing along a UKMTO-recommended route. The strike damaged bridge windows but caused no casualties.
According to Reuters, U.S. officials blamed Iran. Tehran warned vessels operating outside Iranian-approved routes "will not be guaranteed safe passage." The warning follows similar statements by Iran's Persian Gulf Strait Authority. The IRGC also reportedly ordered two Panama-flagged vessels to alter course.
South Korea announced its remaining three vessels will depart the Gulf this weekend after eight others already exited. Saudi Aramco also resumed crude loadings at Ras Tanura after a four-month halt, helping push global oil prices lower despite the IMO suspension.
Deputy Foreign Minister Gharibabadi warned: "Safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz... cannot be guaranteed."
He said any maritime framework must be coordinated with Iran under the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding or the designated parallel route could be suspended.
⚠️ IRAN WARNS OVER ISRAELI AIRCRAFT: Iran's Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters warned that Israeli military aircraft operating in neighboring countries toward Iran constitute "a dangerous action and a threat," adding that if the United States does not restrain Israel, Iran "considers responding to these dangerous actions as its right."
✈️ U.S. MOVES FOR $700 MILLION TURKEY AIRCRAFT ENGINE SALE: The Trump administration officially notified Congress of its intention to sell approximately $700 million in aircraft engines to Turkey.
According to Reuters and official sources, the proposed sale is viewed as "an important gesture" toward Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ahead of next month's NATO summit.
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