Latest news on the Middle East conflict
Read the latest news stories as they are published.
Iran widens shipping threat beyond Hormuz
Iran widens shipping threat beyond Hormuz
Dubai, 15 April (Argus) — Iran has warned it could disrupt shipping across key regional waterways, including the Red Sea, in response to US restrictions on vessels entering or leaving Iranian ports. It marks a broadening of Tehran's maritime threat beyond the strait of Hormuz, where vessel traffic has already slowed sharply since the conflict between the US and Iran started in late February. Ali Abdollahi, head of Iran's Khatam al-Anbiya Central Military Headquarters — the country's highest operational military command — said continued US actions targeting Iranian ports and tankers would "constitute a prelude to a violation of the ceasefire" between Washington and Tehran. He warned Iran would respond by preventing "any exports or imports to continue in the Persian Gulf, the Sea of Oman, and the Red Sea" if the US blockade persists. The US began a naval blockade on vessels entering or leaving Iranian ports on Monday. The US military said no vessels breached the restrictions in the first 24 hours. It said several ships had been instructed to turn around and return to Iranian ports. Vessels calling at or leaving non-Iranian ports are not subject to the measures. At least seven ships transited the strait of Hormuz over the past 24 hours with AIS signals active, according to ship-tracking data from Kpler and MarineTraffic. Despite the escalation in rhetoric, both sides have signalled scope for renewed diplomacy. US president Donald Trump told ABC News that the conflict could end "very soon". Vice-president JD Vance, who led the US delegation in recent talks, said he remained positive about the trajectory of negotiations following discussions in Islamabad that ended without a breakthrough. The statements have raised expectations that US and Iranian officials could return to Pakistan, or another venue, for further talks. Washington has continued to portray regional instability as driven by Tehran and its allies. Speaking at the UN on 14 April, US representative Jennifer Locetta said Iran continues to enable destabilising activity across the region, including support for Yemen's Houthi movement. The US has accused the Houthis of launching repeated missile and drone attacks on shipping in and around the Red Sea and has called for tighter compliance with UN inspection mechanisms for vessels bound for Houthi-controlled ports. By Bachar Halabi Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Iran war drives up African bitumen truck prices
Iran war drives up African bitumen truck prices
London, 15 April (Argus) — Bitumen truck supply prices are rising sharply in key sub-Saharan Africa markets as increased in cargo and container shipped values feed through. The biggest effects have been in east and central African markets like Kenya and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where the construction sectors rely on Mideast Gulf supply, mainly from Iran, of bitumen in drums, bags and bitutainers for the bulk of their road paving requirements. Prices in Nigeria and into landlocked west African markets, and in southern Africa, have also been rising steadily, or in some cases sharply, with more gains likely in the next few weeks. But sub-Saharan African suppliers say there has been little evidence so far of demand destruction, as construction companies broadly maintain their buying patterns to get project work done. A supplier of bulk and drummed bitumen into east and central Africa said ex-Mombasa, Kenya, truck prices had jumped to 150-170 Kenyan shillings/kg ($1,159-1,313/t), around 40pc up from KSh95-100/kg just prior to the 28 February start of Mideast hostilities. Ex-works Nairobi values are now KSh165-175/kg, while massive gains in diesel import prices are adding to the rising cost of delivering trucked bitumen into inland east and central African locations. The price gains have followed a rise in fob Iran bulk and drummed export values, and massive container shipping freight rate increases since war risk surcharges were imposed by leading international container shipping lines early in March. Argus assessed drummed bitumen freight rates from Bandar Abbas/Jebel Ali to Mombasa, Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, and Djibouti at $230/t last week, compared with $90-100/t, $95-110/t and $110-120/t respectively in the last week of February. Nigerian, South African receivers hit In Nigeria, which is supplied with bulk tanker cargoes usually loaded at Abidjan, Ivory Coast, and in the Mediterranean region, truck price increases have been more modest. Some suppliers are still working through stocks at Nigerian terminals of imported cargoes loaded before the US-Israel-Iran war began. Most Nigerian prices have reached 1.35mn naira/t ($998/t) ex-works, with some indications now inching up to N1.35mn-1.4mn/t. Some local sales were being made until last week at N1.25mn/t. Domestic truck prices in February were around N1.2mn/t ex-works. Market participants expect values to rise substantially in the next few weeks, once suppliers switch to selling imported bitumen loaded after the war began. Other west African buyers have already been hit by much bigger increases. A constructor in a landlocked west African market reported a 40pc rise in April supply price versus March for bitutainer flows from Lome, Togo. Those reached $755-760/t ex-Lome terminal for pen 35/50 bitumen, plus a $150/t truck transport cost, to yield a $900-910/t delivered price range. Domestic truck prices in South Africa, with the same values applied for onward truck exports to its southern African neighbours, were assessed 1,000 rand/t higher last week at R12,500-13,000/t ($749-779/t) ex-works, compared with R10,200-10,700/t ($639-670/t) in the last week of February. Some supply prices have gone up far more dramatically this month, to around R14,500/t ($885/t) ex-works, a South African supplier said today. The sharp gains are partly linked to a halt of competitively priced bitumen tanker cargoes loaded at Mideast Gulf ports, leaving South Africa almost exclusively now dependent on Mediterranean region — mainly Turkish and Greek — cargoes that head around west Africa to deliver to Durban and Cape Town. Argus assessed Greek fob cargo prices at $605-610/t last week, up from $386/t in the week ending 27 February. With indicative freight rates added, these cargoes would land in May at around $810/t CFR Durban before port handling, trans-shipment and terminal storage costs are added. The effect on the South African road construction sector is likely to be mitigated by the upcoming southern hemisphere winter activity slowdown from May to August, which typically cuts bitumen requirements by around a half. By Keyvan Hedvat Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
US will not renew Iran crude sanctions waiver
US will not renew Iran crude sanctions waiver
Washington, 14 April (Argus) — The US Treasury Department said on Tuesday that it will not renew a previously issued authorization allowing purchases of seaborne Iranian crude when it expires on 19 April. Treasury issued that waiver on 20 March , ostensibly to alleviate the Mideast Gulf supply disruption caused by the US-Iran war. But Treasury on Tuesday said it would pursue "Economic Fury" — likely playing off the Operation Epic Fury designation for the US attacks against Iran, which have been on pause from 7 April. Treasury on Tuesday also doubled down on warnings for foreign banks to avoid any deals with Iran, warning that it is "prepared to deploy secondary sanctions against foreign financial institutions that continue to support Iran's activities". Independent refiners in China have been the only paying customers of Iranian crude since the US imposed a full ban on the Iranian oil industry in 2019. At least one Iranian cargo was en route to India as of 7 April , signalling IOC's Paradip refinery as its new destination after diverting from China. But the brief window of availability of Iranian crude did not generate wider interest as most market participants expected sanctions to snap back and were wary of compliance scrutiny. Tehran is pushing for full sanctions relief in the so-far unsuccessful diplomatic efforts to negotiate an end to the US-Iran war. The US Navy starting Monday began to enforce a blockade of vessels leaving Iranian ports, by preventing their passage through the Gulf of Oman. It is not yet clear how effective the effort is as some ships appear to have moved through the area . Iran already has restricted passage of most ships through the strait of Hormuz. By Haik Gugarats Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
US says no ships have passed its Iran blockade
US says no ships have passed its Iran blockade
London, 14 April (Argus) — The US navy has allowed no ships to exit Iranian ports during the first 24 hours of the blockade, according to US Central Command (Centcom). "No ships made it past the US blockade and six merchant vessels complied with direction from US forces to turn around to re-enter an Iranian port on the Gulf of Oman," Centcom said. The US began its naval blockade on Monday, 13 April, with the aim to intercept ships leaving Iranian ports or heading to Iran through the strait of Hormuz. This came after US and Iranian officials failed to make a breakthrough in negotiations in Pakistan over the weekend. Centcom said today that the blockade extends along the Iranian coastline, within the Mideast Gulf and in the Gulf of Oman. Ships continued to transit the strait of Hormuz during this period, including several linked to Iran, but US attention instead appears to be focused on a port-by-port blockade rather than on the strait. This could potentially shrink traffic through the strait in the coming days if ships with Iranian cargoes are unable to load or depart. Transit through the strait of Hormuz has been relatively consistent at around 5-10 ships/day in the first half of April, with a high percentage of these being linked to Iran. The Rich Starry , a US-sanctioned Handysize tanker, seemed to pass eastbound through the strait after making a u-turn, then turned around again in the afternoon. By John Ollett Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
