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On Sunday August 23, the Persian Gulf Strait Authority published its first Non-Compliant Vessels list. Announced through the body's X account and hosted on its website, the list names vessels Iran says have violated its arrangements for transiting the Strait of Hormuz and warns that they face restrictions on future passages including fines, detention, seizure, or confiscation. Shipping companies, the statement said, must review the list before chartering in order to avoid pot

On the afternoon of August 20, a product tanker transiting west through the Gulf of Aden broadcast a distress call on VHF Channel 16 reporting that an unauthorized vessel was approaching. Her AIS then transmitted a message reading PIRATE ONBOARD HELP. Shortly afterward she altered course toward Somalia. Six armed men had boarded the 32,200 dwt Sibu 1, IMO 9204776, roughly 136 nautical miles east of Al Mukalla, Yemen. Twenty crew were aboard. Sixteen Indians, one Syrian, one S

Speaking at a campaign event in Garden City, Long Island on August 14, President Trump told an audience of law enforcement officers that "after we finish defeating Iran, which is being very badly defeated, pretty soon I'll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States." He added, "Essentially, that's what it is. We have the blockade. No ships get through unless we want them to." Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi responded on X within hours. Th