The U.S. military said it has redirected 100 commercial vessels over the past 60 days while enforcing a maritime blockade against Iran, underscoring the high-stakes security dynamic in the critical Strait of Hormuz. In a statement released Saturday, U.

S. Central Command (CENTCOM) reported that "ZERO ships have passed through the blockade without U.S. forces allowing" them, emphasizing that American service members remain "laser focused" on the ongoing mission. The disclosure highlights the breadth of U.

S. naval operations in the region as diplomatic efforts to stabilize the vital waterway remain stalled. Newsweek contacted CENTCOM on Saturday for additional details regarding the rerouted vessels. The conflict between the U.S. and Iran, which erupted in late February, has turned the Strait of Hormuz into a primary global flashpoint.

The narrow corridor handles a substantial portion of the world's petroleum and natural gas transit, making any disruption a threat to international energy markets, supply chains, and broader economic stability. CENTCOM's update reflects the logistical and tactical scale required to maintain maritime control amid the ongoing confrontation.

The military reiterated that all commercial traffic navigating the blockade zone does so strictly under U.S. authorization. The development coincides with the Trump administration's broader maximum-pressure strategy against Tehran, which combines military enforcement with economic sanctions aimed at curbing Iran's oil exports and regional influence.

Latest on the Strait of Hormuz According to Reuters, an Iranian official said no formal agreement on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz is expected to be signed during a meeting in Oman on Monday, despite ongoing discussions involving regional stakeholders.

While negotiations are continuing, officials don't expect an immediate deal that would resolve the security concerns surrounding commercial shipping, Reuters reported. The lack of an expected agreement suggests uncertainty could continue in the coming weeks, even as regional governments seek ways to reduce tensions and restore confidence in maritime traffic through the waterway.

Meanwhile, security concerns remain elevated. Recent weeks have included reports of attacks on commercial shipping, military strikes and competing claims from Washington and Tehran over who controls access to the strait. U.S. officials say the mission is intended to protect maritime commerce, while Iran has condemned the blockade and argued it interferes with lawful trade and navigation.

Iran's Response Iran has pushed back against the U.S.-led maritime operation, arguing that security in the Strait of Hormuz should be managed by countries in the region rather than outside powers. Speaking to Al Jazeera, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ismail Baghaei said Iran and Oman plan to brief Gulf countries during Monday's meeting on the results of consultations concerning the safe passage of ships through the strategically important waterway.

Baghaei said Tehran believes regional nations should work together to guarantee maritime security and build confidence without foreign intervention. He added that Iran and Oman had conducted the consultations in their capacity as the two coastal states bordering the strait, Al Jazeera reported.

Baghaei also accused the United States of continuing "military aggression" against Iran, arguing that Washington's economic measures and what he described as a U.S. blockade are part of that campaign. He said Iran considered its actions to be self-defense and maintained that Tehran remains open to diplomatic efforts while protecting its national security interests, according to the report.

Impact on American Consumers The ongoing war in Iran has effectively put a chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, which normally permits the transit of one fifth of the world’s supply of oil. Dramatically diminished traffic through the strait and attacks on transiting vessels from Tehran have fueled fears of supply shortages, making crude oil prices surge.

Diesel prices in the U.S. soared past $6 per gallon on Friday, hitting a new all-time high. As of Saturday afternoon, the national average gas price was $4.31 per gallon, according to AAA. Energy prices have risen all across the world and across the country, with diesel being hit harder than gas as it depends heavily on refinery output and global freight markets.

Higher gas and diesel prices have pushed up the cost of living in the U.S. over the past few months, forcing Americans to pay significantly more than they did before the war. "Every truck, every delivery, every package, every grocery run just got more expensive.

The cost of moving everything in America just hit a record," Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, wrote on X on Friday. Diesel is used to power many commercial vehicles, including freight and delivery trucks, as well as trains, agricultural equipment, and construction machinery.

And some businesses facing higher costs as a result of these increases have already passed on this additional pressure to consumers in the form of added fees. Rising diesel prices could have "broad inflationary consequences," according to Adam Turnquist, chief technical strategist for LPL Financial.

"Higher fuel costs can increase agricultural production expenses, place upward pressure on freight rates and transportation costs, and raise heating bills," he said in a statement shared with Newsweek. For months, President Donald Trump has minimized the impact of the war on Americans and has insisted that prices will come down as soon as the conflict is over.

This week, he admitted that "it’s going to take a little bit longer than the midterms" for gas prices to come down, as he told reporters while en route to Dallas. But he added: "Right after the election, oil prices are going to be tumbling downward." Contact Newsweek editor for this story: Anthony Murray.

The Iran-backed Houthis yesterday controlled Yemen’s entire Red Sea coast after capturing three strategic islands in a lightning offensive the previous day, cementing their hold on a vital shipping corridor linking Europe and Asia. The developments are likely to deepen the Middle East war’s impact on international commerce as Saudi Arabia shut down an oil pipeline following attacks, and after months of Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

Following a week-long offensive that has killed hundreds, government officials said the Houthis seized the Yemeni side of the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the southern gateway to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. Photo: AP A local official with Yemen’s Saudi-backed government on Friday said that the Houthis had “completed their takeover of the Bab al-Mandab area and Mayyun Island.

” A government military official later reported the group had also seized Greater and Lesser Hanish, the last two islands in the narrow waterway not under their control, as well as all of the neighboring Red Sea coastline. “Everything that was under our control on the western coast has fallen,” the military official added.

A witness said that gunmen were “deploying along the Bab al-Mandab shore and are driving around in military vehicles.” The capture of the islands heightens the Houthis’ ability to attack Saudi tankers, which they have been targeting since July. Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, has relied on the Red Sea ever since Iran’s Hormuz blockade choked off its shipments via the Gulf.

Mohammad Mokhber, an adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, on Friday congratulated the Houthis on their “resounding victory.” Oil prices soared past US$100 a barrel last week, while average US diesel prices topped US$6 for the first time on Friday — a potential headache for US President Donald Trump ahead of midterm elections.

The Houthis’ military spokesman, Yahya Saree, said navigation through the Bab al-Mandab Strait was “safe” for all but Saudi Arabia following the latest advances. The Houthi offensive has killed more than 500 people, according to sources on both sides.

It has also displaced about 46,000 people, the UN’s International Organization for Migration said on Friday. It is part of renewed hostilities in Yemen’s civil war that began with the group’s takeover of the capital Sanaa in 2014. Houthi supporter Abdulhamid Dhaifallah lauded the group’s “great victories” in and along the strait.

The Saudi Ministry of Energy on Friday announced that attacks led to the closure of the pipeline — which it had been increasingly using to bypass Hormuz — adding that some people were injured. “The East-West pipeline in the Riyadh and Medina regions was subjected to several attacks on Thursday morning,” a ministry official told the SPA news agency, adding that “the pipeline was stopped as a precaution, and the attacks resulted in some injuries.

” The office of Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi announced the dismissal of the commander in charge of the southern Maysan province following “confirmation that the attacks targeting our brethren in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia originated from a location within the governorate.

” Bahrain, Jordan and Qatar also condemned the attacks on the Saudi pipeline, while the Gulf Cooperation Council denounced “a dangerous escalation and an unacceptable threat to the security of the Kingdom.” Taiwan, which accounts for more than half of the global outsourced semiconductor assembly and testing market, is well-positioned to develop copackaged optics (CPO) and manufacture precision silicon photonics chips, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.

Silicon photonics are emerging as a mainstream optical communications technology and is seen as key to overcoming bottlenecks in AI computing power. The technology is a key project under the government’s New 10 Major AI Infrastructure Projects, with industry, government, academia and research institutions working to overcome critical technological hurdles and build a self-reliant silicon photonics supply chain, the ministry said.

Nvidia Corp in March invested US$4 An unauthorized drone intrusion over Ching Chuan Kang Air Base (清泉崗基地) at Taichung International Airport on Tuesday night forced the temporary closure of the base, diverting eight fighter jets and delaying a commercial flight, authorities said.

Air Force Command Headquarters said that clear weather had allowed for scheduled night training exercises, but after a drone was spotted entering the airspace, the control tower declared an emergency closure of the airport, forcing eight Indigenous Defense Fighter jets in the air to divert and land at Hsinchu Air Base (新竹基地).

Taichung airport director Chang Jui-shu (張瑞澍) said the airspace intrusion lasted from 7:37pm to The air force plans to build 26 more hardened aircraft shelters as the number of F-16Vs stationed along Taiwan’s east coast is expected to reach 120 when the final shipment of 66 jets procured from the US arrives.

The incoming jets would be stationed at Chihhang Air Base in Taitung County, augmenting the F-16V Block 20s operated by the 5th Tactical Fighter Wing in Hualien County, officials said yesterday. The air force plans to allocate more than NT$6.88 billion (US$218.

1 million) from next year to 2031 to build the shelters in Hualien and Taitung as part of the implementation of a “one Indonesian rescuers searched for eight people who went missing at sea while heading to a volcanic island to report on an eruption there, officials said yesterday.

Anak Krakatau initially erupted for about 25 hours over the weekend, and it has since continued to erupt intermittently with explosions ejecting lava, ash and incandescent volcanic material from the crater, the Indonesian Geology Agency said in a statement.

A speedboat carrying five photojournalists, two crew members and a route guide lost contact after leaving Carita, a coastal town in Banten Province, for the volcanic island, Banten Province Search and Rescue Office Chief Al Amrad said.

On September 12, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that Moscow will not cease military operations during peace negotiations, referencing prior truce violations. Concurrently, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed willingness to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit, a proposal Lavrov appeared to dismiss by reiterating the Kremlin’s position that any direct talks must take place in Moscow.

A recent report questions the US administration’s claims of significant degradation of Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities, noting that Tehran has continued launching large-scale salvos at Gulf states, including Jordan, following US-Israeli strikes.

While official statements have asserted that the majority of Iran’s arsenal and launch platforms were destroyed, the sustained frequency of recent missile attacks suggests that Iran retains substantial operational capacity.