Overview
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the U.S. Navy can sustain a blockade indefinitely by rotating ships, remarks he made Thursday while traveling in Panama.
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned Washington will roll out unprecedented economic measures to further isolate Iran and cut off access to hard currency and credit.
- The UAE reported attacks on two Abu Dhabi National Oil Company vessels transiting the strait, an incident the UAE blamed on Iran and that reduced commercial confidence in regional shipping.
- Commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has collapsed from roughly 130–140 daily pre-war transits to single‑ or low‑double digits, and the IEA now forecasts a roughly 4.3 million barrels‑per‑day drop in global oil supply this year.
- Diplomatic efforts have stalled after a brief mid‑June pause in the blockade, mediators continue limited talks, and officials warn military strikes remain an option if negotiations fail which raises risk of wider escalation and economic pain for consumers.