Reuters : A state of relative calm prevailed around the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, after days of sporadic flare-ups, as the United States waited for Iran’s response to its latest proposals to end more than two months of fighting and begin peace talks.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday that Washington expected a response within hours. But a day later, there was no sign of movement from Tehran on the proposal, which would formally end the war before talks on more contentious issues, including Iran’s nuclear program.
Rubio met with 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,” U.S. State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a statement.
The statement did not specifically mention Iran.
A Qatari liquefied natural gas tanker was sailing toward the strait on Saturday en route to Pakistan, according to LSEG shipping data, in a move sources said was approved by Iran to build confidence with Qatar and Pakistan, both mediators in the war.
If completed, it would mark the first transit of a Qatari LNG vessel through the strait since the conflict started. With U.S. President Donald Trump due to begin a visit to China next week, there has been mounting pressure to draw a line under the war, which has thrown energy markets into turmoil and posed a growing threat to the world economy.
Recent days have seen the biggest flare-ups in fighting in and around the strait since a ceasefire began a month ago, and the United Arab Emirates came under renewed attack on Friday.
CLASHES TEST CEASEFIRE
Tehran has largely blocked non-Iranian shipping through the strait since the war began with U.S.-Israeli airstrikes across Iran on February 28. Before the war, one-fifth of the world’s oil supply passed through the narrow waterway.
On Friday, there were sporadic clashes between Iranian forces and U.S. vessels in the strait, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported. The Tasnim news agency later cited an Iranian military source saying the situation had calmed but warning more clashes were possible.
The U.S. military said it struck two Iran-linked vessels attempting to enter an Iranian port, with a U.S. fighter jet hitting their smokestacks and forcing them to turn back.
