A Japan-related vessel detained in the Persian Gulf successfully passed through the Strait of Hormuz and is now sailing toward Japan, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Friday, after the lifting of an effective blockade that had disrupted shipping through the key energy chokepoint for about three months. “On June 19, one Japanese-related vessel that had been detained in the Persian Gulf successfully passed through the Strait of Hormuz, exited the Persian Gulf, and is now sailing toward Japan,” Takaichi said on the US social media firm X. She added that three Japanese crew members were on board. The Japan News reported that a Saudi Arabia-flagged crude oil tanker bound for Kiire in Kagoshima City resumed transmitting its location Thursday in the Gulf of Oman, east of the Strait of Hormuz. The tanker had stopped transmitting its location in the Persian Gulf in mid-April and is believed to have resumed transmission after passing through the strait, the report said. The newspaper also said the Tenzan, a crude oil tanker operated by a Japanese company that had been off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, headed toward the Strait of Hormuz and entered the waterway Thursday night. Government officials said some Japanese nationals were on board. According to Japan’s Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry and other sources cited by the report, 38 Japan-related vessels remained in the Persian Gulf as of Thursday, with about 900 people on board. “We will continue to make every diplomatic effort to ensure that all vessels pass through the Strait of Hormuz as soon as possible,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara told a press conference Friday morning. The latest passage follows earlier limited movements by Japan-related ships through Hormuz during the crisis. Japan’s Foreign Ministry said a Japan-related vessel retained in the Persian Gulf exited the Gulf on May 14, leaving 39 Japan-related vessels still in the area at the time. On April 29, another Japan-related vessel carrying three Japanese crew members passed through the strait and headed toward Japan, according to previous official and media reports. The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world’s most important oil and gas transit routes, and the disruption had stranded dozens of Japan-linked vessels in the Gulf after maritime traffic was sharply curtailed. Japan had sourced more than 90% of its crude oil imports from the Middle East before the crisis, underscoring the strategic importance of the route for Tokyo’s energy security.
A Japan-related vessel detained in the Persian Gulf successfully passed through the Strait of Hormuz and is now sailing toward Japan, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Friday, after the lifting of an effective blockade that had disrupted shipping through the key energy …
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International mediators have proposed a 10-day ceasefire between the United States and Iran, according to a senior Iranian official cited in reports. The measure is described as intended to reduce hostilities and allow renewed talks on a prior interim agreement.
Both sides are assessing next steps in the current regional security situation.
Reports indicate that a US-Iran ceasefire has broken down amid renewed fighting, with the potential impact of mediation efforts by Pakistan, Qatar, and Oman remaining unclear. Earlier diplomatic steps included a June memorandum of understanding between the parties for further negotiations and talks hosted in Geneva in February.
The summary also references Europe’s historical role in diplomacy, including the 1814-15 Congress of Vienna.
Donald Trump stated in a Fox News interview that his representatives had spoken with Iranian officials an hour earlier and that those officials wanted to make a deal to end the conflict, though he noted they had broken prior agreements and expressed uncertainty about whether one would be reached.
He added that people do not want to die and that Iran would need to proceed carefully to avoid further losses. The remarks come amid an ongoing US-Iran conflict that has involved casualties and shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, with some social media users criticizing the repetition of similar statements.
Why the Iran-US ceasefire is falling apart Iran and the US have resumed fighting because they don’t see each other as ‘reliable negotiating partners’, says analyst Ali Vaez. Neither Iran nor the United States seems able to deliver a “knockout blow at an acceptable price” to the other side, and both know “they have no choice other than engaging in diplomacy”, but they’re not ready to make uncomfortable concessions, argues Ali Vaez, director of the Iran Project at International Crisis Group.
Vaez tells host Steve Clemons that Tehran and Washington are trying to “enforce their own interpretation” of the ceasefire agreement they signed last month. President Trump has become “frustrated” with diplomacy because he’s not seeing “the kind of quick results that he likes to see”, Vaez says.