NEW YORK: Iran slammed a US blockade around its ports on Monday as a &quot;grave violation&quot; of its sovereignty, as Washington and Tehran&#39;s belligerent rhetoric rattled a fragile truce. &quot;The imposition of a maritime blockade constitutes a grave violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran,&quot; Iran&#39;s ambassador to the United Nations Amir Saeid Iravani wrote to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, in a letter seen by AFP. The &quot;unlawful&quot; blockade also &quot;constitutes a serious violation of the fundamental principles of the international law of the sea,&quot; Iravani added. US President Donald Trump ordered a blockade of ships entering or leaving Iranian ports and coastal areas in the Gulf Sunday, following the failure of peace talks over the weekend, warning that any Iranian attack boats that challenged the blockade would be destroyed. The blockade came into force at 1400 GMT Monday, despite the United States and Iran agreeing to a two-week ceasefire days earlier, with mediator Pakistan and Gulf state Qatar continuing calls for it to be respected as diplomatic efforts continue. Guterres on Monday called on &quot;all parties&quot; to respect freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, after Iran and subsequently the United States blocked passage through the critical waterway. The strait, through which a fifth of global oil and gas flows, has become a key flashpoint as the US and Iran attempt to gain leverage over each other during ceasefire negotiations. Iravani said the &quot;unlawful&quot; blockade &quot;poses a grave threat to international peace and security and obviously exacerbates the risk of escalation in an already highly volatile region.&quot; In a second letter, the UN envoy called on Middle Eastern countries hosting US military bases to &quot;cease their internationally wrongful acts.&quot; Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan should pay &quot;compensation for all material and moral damage sustained,&quot; he said.

The narrow Strait of Hormuz lies between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, separating Iran (north) from the Arabian Peninsula (south). (NASA)

Middle East

Iran condemned a US maritime blockade as violating sovereignty and international law, after Washington enforced restrictions near Iranian ports, escalating tensions despite a ceasefire and raising risks to global energy flows.

Iran slams US blockade as 'grave violation of sovereignty'

WASHINGTON:&nbsp;US President Donald Trump announced Tuesday a blockade of &quot;sanctioned oil vessels&quot; heading to and leaving Venezuela, sharply escalating his pressure campaign against Caracas while issuing new demands for the country&#39;s crude. The United States has for months been building a major military deployment in the Caribbean -- with the stated goal of combating drug trafficking in Latin America, but taking particular aim at Venezuela. Caracas views the operation as a pressure campaign to oust leftist strongman Nicolas Maduro, whom Washington and many nations view as an illegitimate president. After weeks of military jet flybys off the Venezuelan coast and deadly strikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats that have killed over 90 people, the Trump administration heightened its campaign last week by seizing an oil tanker leaving the South American nation. It subsequently announced sanctions on several other vessels. &quot;Today, I am ordering A TOTAL AND COMPLETE BLOCKADE OF ALL SANCTIONED OIL TANKERS going into, and out of, Venezuela,&quot; Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform Tuesday evening. Trump said the large US naval armada amassed in the Caribbean -- which includes the world&#39;s largest aircraft carrier -- &quot;will only get bigger&quot; until Venezuela returns &quot;to the United States of America all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us.&quot; The US president did not specify which oil or land he was referring to, but Venezuela nationalized its oil industry in the 1970s. Later, under the presidency of Maduro&#39;s predecessor, Hugo Chavez, companies were forced to cede majority control to the Venezuelan state oil company, PDVSA. &quot;The illegitimate Maduro Regime is using Oil from these stolen Oil Fields to finance themselves, Drug Terrorism, Human Trafficking, Murder, and Kidnapping,&quot; Trump wrote. Maduro has repeatedly claimed the massive US military deployment within striking distance of his country is part of a plan to overthrow him and &quot;steal&quot; Venezuela&#39;s abundant oil under the ruse of its anti-drug operation. Though the United States already has sanctions on Venezuela&#39;s oil sector, seizing its exports could potentially cripple its already struggling economy, creating massive political headwinds for Maduro. &quot;If there are no oil exports, it will affect the foreign exchange market, the country&#39;s imports... There could be an economic crisis,&quot; Elias Ferrer of Orinoco Research, a Venezuelan advisory firm, told AFP recently. &quot;Not just a recession, but also shortages of food and medicine, because we wouldn&#39;t be able to import.&quot; Venezuela has been sidestepping US oil sanctions for years, selling crude at a discounted price on the black market, mainly to China. Venezuela is estimated to have oil reserves of some 303 billion barrels, according to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries -- more than any other nation.

Americas

US President Donald Trump announced a naval blockade of 'sanctioned oil vessels' leaving and heading to Venezuela, in a further escalation of his pressure campaign on Caracas.

Articles tagged with "Naval blockade"

Iran slams US blockade as 'grave violation of sovereignty'

Trump orders blockade of 'sanctioned oil tankers' in Venezuela

Iran slams US blockade as 'grave violation of sovereignty'