Dubai | Iran and the United States appeared at an impasse Thursday, with each side hardening its position over talks and setting the stage for another potential escalation in the Middle East war. Thousands more US troops neared the region, while Tehran tightened its grip on the crucial Strait of Hormuz.
Sirens over Israel warned of barrages of incoming Iranian missiles, and Gulf nations worked to intercept fire. Heavy strikes were reported in Iran's capital and other cities.
In a war that appears defined by who can take the most pain, the US has offered shifting but ambitious objectives, including ensuring Iran's missile and nuclear programs are no longer a threat and ending Tehran's support for armed groups in the region. Washington at one point also pushed for the overthrow of Iran's theocracy.
While the US-Israeli campaign has hit Iran's military and government hard, killing top leaders and striking scores of targets, Iran continues to fire missiles and there is no sign of an uprising against the government.
For Iran's leadership, by contrast, merely outlasting the onslaught could be seen as victory. It may be hoping to get the US to back down by roiling the world economy with its stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz — raising prices at the pump for drivers, prices in the grocery store for families and costs for businesses the world over.
Short of a negotiated solution, the US would need a dramatic escalation to end Iran's attacks and restore the free flow of goods through the strait, where 20% of all traded oil and natural gas is transported in peacetime. Iran rejected a ceasefire proposal put forth by the US, while putting forth its own demands.
President Donald Trump, speaking at the start of a Thursday cabinet meeting, said he wanted to “set the record straight” that he isn't the one pushing for a deal. “They're begging to make a deal, not me,” Trump said.
Trump envoy Steve Witkoff confirmed the US has presented a 15-point “action list” to Iran, delivered through Pakistan as a framework for a possible peace deal. Witkoff indicated there's a “strong possibility” an agreement can be reached.
Trump vowed to strike Iran's power plants if it doesn't fully reopen the strait — and his new deadline for that looms this weekend, when the war will also mark a month. But a Gulf Arab bloc said Thursday that Iran is now exacting tolls from ships to ensure their safe passage through the waterway.
Iran seen as operating Strait of Hormuz as de facto toll booth'Iran has been blocking ships from the strait that it perceives as linked to the US and Israeli war effort, while letting through a trickle of others.
Jasem Mohamed al-Budaiwi, secretary-general of the Gulf Cooperation Council, a bloc of six Gulf Arab nations, said Iran was charging for safe passage.
The Fars and Tasnim news agencies, both close to Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, quoted lawmaker Mohammadreza Rezaei Kouchi as saying that parliament was working to formalize that process and that it was “natural” for ships to pay for it.
Lloyd's List Intelligence called it a “de facto toll booth' regime,” saying that at least two vessels have paid in yuan, China's currency.
Iran's grip on the strait and relentless attacks on Gulf regional energy infrastructure have sent oil prices skyrocketing and concerns of a global energy crisis surging. Brent crude, the international standard, traded at $104 Thursday, up more than 40% from Feb. 28, when the war started. Germany's Defense Minister Boris Pistorius called it a “catastrophe” for the world's economies.
Israel said it killed the head of Iranian Revolutionary Guard's navy, Commodore Alireza Tangsiri, and the country's naval intelligence chief, Behnam Rezaei.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Tangsiri was responsible for bombing operations that have blocked ships from crossing the Strait of Hormuz. Rezaei had “central knowledge authority in maritime intelligence,” the Israeli military said. Iran did not immediately acknowledge the killings.
Using Pakistan as an intermediary, Washington has delivered to Iran a 15-point ceasefire proposal, which includes the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
A day after saying Iran wants to cut a deal, Trump posted on social media Thursday that Tehran needs to “get serious soon” on negotiating an end to the war “before it is too late, because once that happens there is NO TURNING BACK, and it won't be pretty!”
He did not elaborate, but said Iran should be negotiating because “they have been militarily obliterated, with zero chance of a comeback.”
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in an interview on state TV that his government has not engaged in talks to end the war and does not plan to.
Araghchi said the US had tried to send messages to Iran through other nations, “but that is not a conversation nor a negotiation.”
Egypt is also acting as a go-between, according to Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, who said Thursday that his country sees a desire from both sides “for calm, for the exploration of negotiations.”
Press TV, the English-language broadcaster on Iranian state television, said Iran has its own five-point proposal, which included reparations and recognition of its sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz.
Meanwhile, a group of ships, including the USS Tripoli, drew closer to the Mideast with some 2,500 Marines. Also, at least 1,000 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne — trained to land in hostile territory to secure key territory and airfields — have been ordered to the region.
Israel said it carried out a wave of attacks targeting Iranian infrastructure early Thursday, and air defenses were heard in Tehran. Heavy strikes were also reported around Isfahan, home to a major Iranian air base and other military sites, as well as one of the nuclear sites bombed by the US during the 12-day war in June.
Loud booms could be heard across Israel as it was repeatedly targeted by barrages from Iran. Israel's Magen David Adom emergency service said a man in his 30s was killed in the area of Nahariya, the country's northernmost coastal city. In the United Arab Emirates, two people were reported killed by shrapnel from a missile interception over Abu Dhabi.
Since the war began, more than 1,900 people have been killed in Iran, Deputy Health Minister Ali Jafarian told Al Jazeera.
Eighteen people have died in Israel, while three Israeli soldiers have also been killed in Lebanon. At least 13 American troops have been killed. More than a dozen civilians in the occupied West Bank and Gulf Arab states have also died.
Authorities said nearly 1,100 people have died in Lebanon, where Israel has targeted the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group, which has fired into Israel. In Iraq, where Iranian-supported militant groups have entered the conflict, 80 members of the security forces have been killed.
Singapore | With the Strait of Hormuz almost closed amid the ongoing war in the Gulf region, merchant vessels, including oil tankers, have started to queue up at ports across Asia while operators wait for clarity, a media report said Thursday.
Sourcing data that showed longer queues and delays at major Asian ports, including at the richest city-state, The Straits Times pointed out that more vessels carrying Gulf-bound cargoes could seek anchorage in Singapore and Malaysia’s Tanjung Pelepas and Klang ports in the coming weeks, if the crisis drags on.
Starting February 28, the US and Israel launched joint strikes against Iran, which in turn, retaliated, spreading the war to the entire Gulf region. The Strait of Hormuz is a strategically important choke point for the world's energy supplies.
The strait, a narrow shipping lane that connects the Persian Gulf with the Indian Ocean, remains effectively closed, bringing to a near halt the transit of hundreds of vessels per day, including container, dry bulk and liquid cargo ships.
While a trickle of ships has made its way in or out of the Gulf so far this month, a growing number of vessels bound for Gulf ports have chosen to anchor, mostly at transshipment ports like Singapore, fearing for the safety of their crew and assets, according to the Singapore broadsheet.
It takes about five to seven weeks for ships to travel from the Gulf region to Singapore, depending on the size and type of vessel, and vice versa.
Portcast, a Singapore-based supply-chain intelligence platform, said that as the shipping disruption situation evolves and vessels reroute to avoid uncertainty, the effects are showing up at ports across Asia in the form of longer queues, slower berth access, and more delays.
“The data from (major Asian ports) the past few weeks shows that congestion is building,” the daily cited Devansh Bhikajee, marketing director at Portcast, as saying.
He said while the Hormuz is not fully closed, the disruption has been significant enough to alter vessel behaviour at scale. “Ships are holding, rerouting, or bunching at alternative ports while operators wait for clarity,” Bhikajee told Singapore’s mainstream daily.
The seven-day average of vessels waiting at anchorage in Singapore has risen to 30.3 as of March 25, compared with 20 before February 28 when the conflict started.
Anchorage refers to a designated, safe and usually charted area of water where ships drop anchor to wait for a berth, harbour pilot or permission to enter port.
The worst-hit ports include Busan in South Korea where the average reached 12.9 versus 5.4 before February 28.
While the Gulf region is known for oil and gas exports, it also accounts for about 13 per cent of global seaborne trade volume for chemicals, including fertilisers, 3 per cent containers and 2 per cent dry bulk cargo.
Just a day before the conflict started, 141 ships transited the Hormuz, with more than 80 per cent headed to Asian ports and the rest to Europe and other regions.
Lloyd’s List Intelligence, a London-based real-time vessel tracking firm, estimates only 105 ships have passed through the strait between February 28 and March 18, compared with 1,900 in the same period of 2025, according to media reports.
In Tehran, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi on Wednesday said his country has permitted certain countries – China, Russia, India, Iraq and Pakistan – that it considers friendly to pass through (the Strait of Hormuz). He also made it clear that ships linked to Iran's adversaries will not be allowed to transit through the strategic waterway. Portcast said that as mainline vessels continue to avoid direct Gulf calls, Gulf-bound shipments are likely to be discharged at regional relay hubs and transshipment ports.
“This will create congestion at alternative hubs absorbing diverted volumes and bottlenecks at Asian transshipment ports such as Singapore, and Malaysia’s Tanjung Pelepas and Port Klang, if carriers continue to restrict Gulf-bound loadings,” said Bhikajee.
Meanwhile, the Port Authority of Singapore (PSA Singapore) said in a statement that it has been closely monitoring the situation in West Asia.
“We have also offered bespoke solutions to beneficial cargo owners and supply chain stakeholders who need help with shipments affected by disruptions,” The Straits Times quoted the PSA spokesperson as saying.
Washington | Trump envoy Steve Witkoff said the U.S. has presented a 15-point “action list” to Iran, delivered through Pakistan as a framework for a possible peace deal.
It's the first time the Trump administration has confirmed the 15-point plan.
Witkoff made the comment Thursday at a Cabinet meeting. He added that Trump directed Witkoff to “maintain confidentiality” as the administration reached out, citing sensitive diplomatic discussions.
“If a deal happens, it will be great for the country of Iran, the entire region and the world at large,” he said.