U.S. sanctions Iran's Hormuz Strait authority, warns Oman not to allow tolls
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks during a press briefing in the Brady Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, DC, on April 15
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks during a press briefing in the Brady Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, DC, on April 15, 2026. The U.S. Treasury sanctioned Iran's "Persian Gulf Strait Authority," the agency launched this month as Tehran works to exert control of transit through the Strait of Hormuz. Treasury Scott Bessent later warned Oman — which has reportedly been in talks with Iran about charging vessels transiting the key oil-shipping route — not to allow a tolling system in the waterway.
"Oman, in particular, should know that the U.S. Treasury will aggressively target any actors involved — directly or indirectly — in facilitating tolls for the Strait and any willing partners will be penalized," Bessent wrote in an X post Thursday morning. The post came one day after President Donald Trump, while insisting at a Cabinet meeting that the strait must remain unobstructed, said "Oman will behave just like everybody else or we'll have to blow 'em up." Meanwhile, the Pentagon on Thursday morning said Iran had launched a ballistic missile toward Kuwait and attack drones in and around the Strait of Hormuz.
The new attacks, Bessent's stern warning, Trump's latest remarks and the beefed-up sanctions all point to heightened tensions in the Middle East, despite recent signals from the administration — and optimism from markets — that a deal to end the three-month-old war was close at hand. But Axios on Thursday morning reported that the U.S. and Iran have made major progress in their ongoing negotiations. The two sides have come together on a 60-day memorandum of understanding to extend their ongoing ceasefire — which Trump had already extended indefinitely — and launch negotiations on Iran's nuclear program, Axios reported, citing two U.S. officials.
Trump has asked for a few days to mull over the agreement, Axios reported. And while U.S. officials said the deal's term have been "mostly agreed" to as of Tuesday, Iran has yet to confirm that its senior leadership has signed off on it, Axios reported.
The BriefWire