Ships warned to avoid Red Sea, log Hormuz voyages after Israel hits Iran
Iran has in the past threatened to close the critical Strait of Hormuz to traffic in retaliation for Western pressure. Analysts have said that any closure of the Strait could restrict trade and impact global oil prices.
"The Strait of Hormuz remains open and commercial traffic continues to flow uninterrupted," the Combined Maritime Force said in an advisory, adding that events over the last day had increased the likelihood of regional conflict to "significant".
Israel said it had targeted nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories and military commanders during the start of a prolonged operation to prevent Tehran from building an atomic weapon. Iran denies having any such plan.
"We have reports that more ship owners are now exercising extra caution and are opting to stay away from the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf," said Jakob Larsen, chief safety & security officer with shipping association BIMCO.
If the United States is perceived to be involved in any attacks, "the risk of escalation increases significantly", Larsen said. "Such an escalation could include missile attacks on ships or laying of sea mines in the Strait (of Hormuz)."
Greece and Britain have advised their merchant shipping fleets to avoid sailing through the Gulf of Aden and to log all voyages through the Strait of Hormuz following Israel's attacks on Iran, documents seen by Reuters showed.
Greek ship owners were urged to send details of their vessels sailing through the Strait of Hormuz to Greece's maritime ministry, according to one of the documents issued by Greece's shipping association, which was sent on Friday.
"Due to developments in the Middle East and the escalation of military actions in the wider region, the (Greek) Ministry of Shipping ... urgently calls on shipping companies to send ... the details of Greek-owned ships that are sailing in the maritime area of the Strait of Hormuz," the document said.
All UK-flagged vessels, which include the Gibraltar, Bermuda and Isle of Man 'red ensign' registries, were advised to avoid sailing through the southern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, a separate document issued by the UK's transport ministry said.
If sailing through those areas, vessels must adhere to their highest level of security measures and limit the number of crew on deck during voyages, said the advisory, seen by Reuters.
The European Union's naval mission in the Red Sea, Aspides, is continuing operations as normal but is monitoring developments in the region, an Aspides official told Reuters.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
AsiaOne
3 hours ago
- AsiaOne
US hits Iranian shipping network with major new sanctions, World News
WASHINGTON — The US Treasury Department announced fresh sanctions on Wednesday (July 30) on over 115 Iran-linked individuals, entities and vessels, in a sign the Trump administration is doubling down on its "maximum pressure" campaign after bombing Tehran's key nuclear sites in June. The sanctions broadly target the shipping interests of Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, the son of Ali Shamkhani, who is himself an adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The US Treasury said it was the most significant Iran-related sanctions action since 2018, during President Donald Trump's first administration. According to Treasury, Shamkhani controls a vast network of container ships and tankers through a complex web of intermediaries that sell Iranian and Russian oil and other goods throughout the world. Treasury accused Shamkhani of using personal connections and corruption in Tehran to generate tens of billions of dollars in profits, much of which is used to prop up the Iranian regime. Overall, the new sanctions target 15 shipping firms, 52 vessels, 12 individuals and 53 entities involved in sanctions evasion in 17 countries, ranging from Panama to Italy to Hong Kong. A US official said the new sanctions would make it "much more difficult" for Iran to sell its oil, but added that the administration did not anticipate any sustained disruption to global oil markets. The official said that Iran's oil exports had already declined to around 1.2 million barrels per day, from 1.8 million barrels per day at the start of the year, after the Trump administration imposed several smaller rounds of sanctions targeting Iran's oil business. "We're still engaging further action to bring that number down even more," the official said, noting that sanctions pressure during Trump's first term had cut Iran oil flows to a few hundred thousand barrels per day. An Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson called the sanctions "a clear example of America's hostility towards the Iranian nation," according to the country's Student News Network. The spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei, also said the oil sanctions represented "an evil act aimed at harming Iran's economic development and the welfare of its people." China is the top buyer of Iran's oil. The European Union sanctioned Shamkhani earlier in July, citing his role in the Russian oil trade. A US official said that Wednesday's action would impact both Russia and Iran, but the action was focused on Iran. "From our perspective, given where this individual fits, given his connection to the Supreme Leader and his father's previous sanctions activities, given the Iran-related authorities, it's critically important to emphasise that this is an Iran action that is meaningful and very impactful," the official said. Ali Shamkhani, Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani's father, was sanctioned by the United States in 2020. The latest sanctions announcement came as prospects for renewed US-Iran diplomacy remained dim in the aftermath of the US bombing of Iranian nuclear sites last month. Trump warned on Monday that he would order fresh US attacks should Tehran try to restart the nuclear sites the US had already struck. He also told reporters Iran has been sending out "nasty signals" and that any effort to restart its nuclear programme would be immediately quashed. The United States held five rounds of talks with Iran prior to its airstrikes in June, which Trump said had "obliterated" a programme that Washington and its ally Israel say is aimed at developing a nuclear bomb. Some experts have questioned the extent of the damage. Iran denies seeking a nuclear weapon. A senior White House official said last week that Washington was open to talking directly to Iran. But European and Iranian diplomats have said there is little prospect of Iran re-engaging with the US at the negotiating table for now. [[nid:720343]]
CNA
3 hours ago
- CNA
Canada plans to recognise Palestinian state, raising allies' pressure on Israel
OTTAWA: Canada plans to recognise the State of Palestine at a meeting of the United Nations in September, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on Wednesday (Jul 30), ratcheting up pressure on Israel as starvation spreads in Gaza. The announcement came after France said last week it would recognise a Palestinian state and a day after Britain said it would recognise the state at September's UN General Assembly meeting if the fighting in Gaza, part of the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel, had not stopped by then. Carney told reporters that the reality on the ground, including starvation of people in Gaza, meant "the prospect of a Palestinian state is literally receding before our eyes". "Canada condemns the fact that the Israeli government has allowed a catastrophe to unfold in Gaza," he said. Carney said the planned recognition was based in part on repeated assurances from the Palestinian Authority, which represents the State of Palestine at the UN, that it was reforming its governance and is willing to hold general elections in 2026 in which Hamas "can play no part". The announcements by some of Israel's closest allies reflect growing international outrage over Israel's restrictions on food and other aid to Gaza in its war against Hamas militants, and the dire humanitarian crisis there. A global hunger monitor has warned that a worst-case scenario of famine is unfolding in the enclave. The Gaza health ministry reported seven more hunger-related deaths on Wednesday, including a two-year-old girl with an existing health condition. The Hamas-run government media office in Gaza said the Israeli military killed at least 50 people within three hours on Wednesday as they tried to get food from UN aid trucks coming into the northern Gaza Strip. Israel and its closest ally, the US, both rejected Carney's statements. "The change in the position of the Canadian government at this time is a reward for Hamas and harms the efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and a framework for the release of the hostages," the Israeli foreign ministry said in a statement. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made similar comments after the French and British announcements. A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said President Donald Trump also sees recognition of the State of Palestine as wrongly "rewarding Hamas". US special envoy Steve Witkoff is due to travel to Israel on Thursday to discuss Gaza. Trump said this week he expected centres to be set up to feed more people in the enclave. The State of Palestine has been a non-member observer state of the UN General Assembly since 2012, recognised by more than three-quarters of the assembly's 193 member states. Jonathan Panikoff, former deputy US national intelligence officer on the Middle East, said recognition of Palestine is intended "to increase pressure on Israel to compel it to return to a two-state paradigm". But he said Canada's announcement is "unlikely to be anything more than symbolic and risks undermining their relationship with a longtime ally in Israel". French President Emmanuel Macron, who spoke with Carney before Canada's announcement, said the recognition of Palestine will "revive a prospect of peace in the region". POSSIBLE ULTIMATUM TO HAMAS Israeli security Cabinet member Zeev Elkin said on Wednesday that Israel could threaten to annex parts of Gaza to increase pressure on Hamas, eroding Palestinian hopes of statehood on land Israel now occupies. Mediation efforts to secure a 60-day ceasefire and the release of remaining hostages held by Hamas ground to a halt last week. In Gaza, resident Saed al-Akhras said the recognition of Palestine by major powers marked a "real shift in how Western countries view the Palestinian cause". "Enough!" he said. "Palestinians have lived for more than 70 years under killing, destruction and occupation, while the world watches in silence." Families of Israeli hostages still held in Gaza appealed for no recognition of a Palestinian state to come before their loved ones were returned. "Such recognition is not a step toward peace but rather a clear violation of international law and a dangerous moral and political failure that legitimises horrific war crimes," the Hostages Family Forum said. Netanyahu said this month he wanted peace with Palestinians but described any future independent state as a potential platform to destroy Israel, so control of security must remain with Israel. His Cabinet includes far-right members who openly demand the annexation of all Palestinian land. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Tuesday that reestablishing Jewish settlements in Gaza was "closer than ever", calling Gaza "an inseparable part of the Land of Israel". AID GOING IN, BUT NOT ENOUGH A 2-year-old girl being treated for a build-up of brain fluid died overnight of hunger, her father told Reuters on Wednesday. "Doctors said the baby has to be fed a certain type of milk," Salah al-Gharably said by phone from Deir Al-Balah. "But there is no milk. She starved. We stood helpless." The deaths from starvation and malnutrition overnight raised the toll from such causes to 154, according to the Gaza health ministry, including at least 89 children, since the war's start, most of them in recent weeks. Israel said on Sunday it would halt military operations for 10 hours a day in parts of Gaza and designate secure routes for convoys delivering food and medicine. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the United Nations and its partners had been able to bring more food into Gaza in the first two days of pauses, but the volume was "still far from enough". The war began on Oct 7, 2023, when Hamas led attacks on communities and military bases in southern Israel in which some 1,200 people were killed, including more than 700 civilians, and another 251 taken as hostages to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
Straits Times
6 hours ago
- Straits Times
Brown University makes a deal with the White House to restore funding
RHODE ISLAND - Brown University, besieged by the Trump administration's pressure campaign against the country's most elite schools, struck a deal with the government on July 30, becoming the third Ivy League university in a month to reach an agreement with the White House. The agreement, a copy of which Brown made public, calls for the university to make US$50 million (S$64 million) in payments to state workforce development programs over a decade and requires Brown to comply with the Trump administration's vision on matters like transgender athletes and 'merit-based' admissions policies. The university, which is in Providence, Rhode Island, secured a pledge from the government that the deal would not be used 'to dictate Brown's curriculum or the content of academic speech'. The Trump administration is also required to restore millions of dollars in federal research funding that it had blocked in recent months, and Brown avoided the naming of an independent monitor to oversee the deal. Government officials had accused the school of harboring anti-Semitism after it became the site of pro-Palestinian protests over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. Brown denied any wrongdoing and hoped that the agreement would end months of turmoil. But it also opened the school to charges that it had capitulated to the Trump administration. In an open letter on July 30, Brown's president, Ms Christina H. Paxson, said the agreement 'preserves the integrity of Brown's academic foundation, and it enables us as a community to move forward after a period of considerable uncertainty'. The Trump administration depicted the deal as an ideological victory. In a statement on July 30, Education Secretary Linda McMahon argued that the deal would be part of a 'lasting legacy of the Trump administration, one that will benefit students and American society for generations to come'. 'The Trump administration is successfully reversing the decades-long woke-capture of our nation's higher education institutions,' Mrs McMahon said. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Business US Fed holds rates steady despite Trump's pressure, with two governors dissenting Asia Trump says US will impose 15% tariff on South Korean imports World Canada intends to recognise Palestinian state at UN General Assembly: Carney Life Singlish, rojak and NDP: Dick Lee's SingaPop! exhibition celebrates evolution of local pop culture Multimedia 60 years, 60 items: A National Day game challenge Singapore Regional eco-tours, more full-time staff: S'pore's Nature Society restructures to boost conservation Singapore School, parents on alert after vape peddlers approach primary school pupil Singapore Escape, discover, connect: Where new memories are made The government had previously reached agreements with the University of Pennsylvania and, last week, Columbia University. White House officials are negotiating with Harvard University and representatives of other schools that have been similarly squeezed by President Donald Trump's tactic of tying hundreds of millions of dollars – or more – in research funding to a school's acquiescence to government demands. Brown has been among the most affected since administration officials said in April that they intended to block US$510 million in funding from flowing to the school. The university never brought a court challenge, but for months leading up to July 30's deal, Ms Paxson and other university leaders sounded increasingly dire warnings about Brown's financial standing. Last week, the university disclosed that it had borrowed US$500 million, a loan that came after it had already secured US$300 million. But Ms Paxson, like other university leaders, faced thorny debates about whether to negotiate with the White House. Many in academia have sharply criticised the government's tactics, likening them to measures pursued by authoritarians around the world. Paxson appeared to sense the prospect of a backlash, even as she promoted the agreement, devoting more than 350 words of her letter to explain why Brown had elected to negotiate. 'I have consistently and publicly asserted Brown's commitment to meeting its obligations to follow the law, as well as our willingness to understand any valid concerns the government may have about the ways in which the university fulfills those legal obligations,' Ms Paxson wrote. 'I stated that Brown should uphold its ethical and legal obligations while also steadfastly defending academic freedom and freedom of expression, for both the university as an institution and for individual members of our community.' The agreement, she said, allows Brown to 'meet those dual obligations.' Brown's agreement with the government emerged one week after Columbia struck its deal with the Trump administration. The agreements, though similar in many respects, were not exact replicas. The Brown, Columbia and Penn agreements offer the White House templates for future talks with schools like Harvard, which has been negotiating with the government for more than a month. The agreements, though, also show universities where the White House might budge. The New York Times reported this week that Harvard was skeptical of agreeing to a Columbia-like monitor. The university had concerns that such a stipulation may infringe on its academic freedom. Harvard officials have also been reluctant to make a settlement payment directly to the government. But the university has signaled a willingness to spend up to US$500 million in connection with a settlement. Many in Trump's political coalition scorned Brown for its approach to the protests that roiled campuses in 2024. As part of a deal with demonstrators, Brown became one of the only universities that agreed to consider demands from pro-Palestinian students who wanted divestment from Israel. Although the university's governing board ultimately voted against taking that step, the university's willingness to bargain with protesters infuriated many conservatives. Before her school came under such direct pressure from the White House, Ms Paxson was more vocal than many higher education leaders about the Trump administration's tactics against prominent universities. In March, she said that the administration's 'demands raise new and previously unthinkable questions about the future of academic freedom and self-governance for those that are committed to continuing to serve this country as leading research institutions.' At the time, she vowed that if Brown faced a confrontation 'directly impacting our ability to perform essential academic and operational functions, we would be compelled to vigorously exercise our legal rights to defend these freedoms, and true to our values, we would do so with integrity and respect'. On Jully 30, she said that the agreement with the White House 'evolved as Brown was engaged in ongoing interactions with the government relating to two federal agency reviews'; But, she also said, Brown had never 'been informed of any finding that the university violated any law.' Mr J. Timmons Roberts, an environmental studies professor at Brown, said he was relieved that the settlement seemed less onerous than Columbia's. 'This feels like mostly things that Brown had to do anyway, and had already said it was going to do,' said Mr Roberts, who was among hundreds of faculty members who had signed a petition urging Brown to resist the Trump administration's demands. 'It seems that Brown has navigated this process in a way that maintains its core mission'. And Mr Ted Mitchell, the president of the American Council on Education, said he liked that the money would go toward workforce projects, not the federal government. Nonetheless, he said he remained disturbed that universities had been put in a position of negotiating deals with the government. 'We really look forward to engaging with this administration on matters of policy,' he said. 'But this isn't policy. This is simple extortion and dealmaking, which has no place in a democracy.' NYTIMES
