Opening the Strait of Hormuz remains Iran’s most valuable bargaining chip; one it seems eager to retain after seeing the drastic effect its closing has had on world trade.

The budget plan includes anticipated total operating revenues of $826 million, a 26% increase.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney had said the bridge would open this week, but appeared to back away from that on June 10.

Three foreign-flagged vessels carrying Indian crew have recently been attacked by the U.S. Navy.

The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz in early March has driven Asian buyers to look for alternative sources to replace disrupted Persian Gulf barrels.

The bridge, named after the late Canadian hockey player who starred for the Detroit Red Wings, was built to reduce shipping congestion in a region that lives on trade.

While the Houthis’ statement doesn’t amount to a ban on commercial shipping in the Red Sea, maritime intelligence agency Vanguard Tech advised caution.

If shippers look to frontload imports, then carriers will look to push rates higher and higher, so the market may yet be far from its peak, warns the analyst.

The blockade is depriving Tehran of petroleum revenue and the market of millions of barrels of supply.

The authority overseeing the Central American waterway is revisiting lessons learned from Panama’s 2023-24 drought in the face of what's predicted to be a “super El Niño.”