@DKThomp Could part of this just be his anti-immigration agenda - ie an attempt to give American workers an advantage under the guise of national security
@BlacklionCTA@JavierBlas Being friendly with and actively supporting Iran's tollbooth against international shipping are two separate things. A tollbooth backed by Iranian drones is the definition of confrontational. Plus the rumors of Iran shifting it's banking relationships from the UAE to Oman.
@DefenceGeek Iran keeps talking about managing the Strait together with Oman and reportedly is deepening banking ties with Oman now that it has killed its relationship with the UAE https://t.co/QGwR4hv5Va
Iran's Foreign Minister Araghchi says Tehran is in talks with Oman to jointly manage the Strait of Hormuz, asserting that no international waters exist between the two countries' territorial claims in the strait.
Two vessels reportedly seized by the IRGC are both operated by MSC
While initial reports suggested they were part of a six-vessel MSC convoy, track analysis conducted by #MarineTraffic analysts indicates it is unlikely they were transiting together with the other four vessels, which exited the area successfully. Instead, the two vessels appear to have followed a different route and were trailing behind the rest.
Epaminondas, a chartered 6,690 TEU vessel deployed on the INDUSA service connecting India and the US East Coast, with intermediate calls at Khalifa Port and Jebel Ali, and MSC Francesca (11,336 TEU), operating on the Himalaya Express service linking India, the Persian Gulf, and the Mediterranean, had both been stuck in the Persian Gulf since the start of the conflict.