Overview
- U.S. Central Command said U.S. forces fired missiles from an MH-60 helicopter to disable the Panama‑flagged M/V Vela Nova after its crew ignored repeated warnings while attempting to transit toward an Iranian port, a move CENTCOM said enforced the U.S. naval blockade.
- Iran’s new national security chief Mohsen Rezaei publicly declared the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the United States meets a list of demands that include ending the blockade, releasing frozen assets, and agreeing a region‑wide ceasefire.
- Iran‑aligned Houthi forces struck in the Bab el‑Mandeb, killing six people on a cargo ship and rescuers, marking the first recent fatalities from Red Sea attacks and widening threats to alternative shipping routes.
- Mediators from Pakistan, Oman and Qatar report technical progress on routing and corridor coordinates, but negotiators remain deadlocked over sequencing, verification and reciprocal political demands that would reopen practical transit.
- Global shipping through Hormuz has collapsed from pre‑war levels to single‑digit daily transits and oil benchmarks rose on the violence and stalemate, raising near‑term supply risk and economic pressure on importers and seafarers.