State Department says US, China oppose Hormuz shipping tolls - Reuters

Iraq and Pakistan cut separate deals with Iran to move oil and liquefied natural gas through the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reported, citing five sources with knowledge of the matter.

Iraq secured safe passage for two very large crude carriers, each carrying about 2 million barrels of crude, that passed through the strait on Sunday, according to the report.

Iraq is seeking Iran’s approval for more transits to protect oil revenues that make up 95% of its budget, the report added, citing an Iraqi oil ministry official.

Two tankers loaded with Qatari LNG are also heading to Pakistan under a separate bilateral agreement between Islamabad and Tehran, the report said, citing two unnamed industry sources.

The sources said neither Iraq nor Pakistan made direct payments to Iran or Iran’s Revolutionary Guards over the transits, and Qatar was not directly involved in the bilateral deals.

Saudi Arabia carried out numerous unpublicized strikes on Iran in late March in retaliation for attacks on the kingdom during the Middle East war, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing two Western officials briefed on the matter and two Iranian officials.

The attacks marked the first known direct Saudi military action on Iranian soil and reflected a more assertive Saudi posture toward its regional rival, the report said.

One Western official cited by Reuters described them as “tit-for-tat strikes in retaliation for when Saudi Arabia was hit.”

US President Donald Trump told reporters he does not think he would need “any help with Iran” when asked about a possible contribution by China.

“To be honest with you, they’re either going to do the right thing, or we’re just going to finish them off,” Trump said as he departed the White House for China.

"We're only making a good deal… their military is gone, it's wiped out, and we're only going to make a good deal and we'll see what happens."

Trump said the United States has Iran "very much under control."

"We're either going to make a deal, or they're going to be decimated. So either way, we win. But we'll beat them.

A second Qatari liquefied natural gas tanker successfully crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday since the start of the Iran war, Reuters reported, citing LSEG shipping data.

The vessel Mihzem departed Ras Laffan on Monday and crossed the strait on Tuesday, heading toward Pakistan’s Port Qasim, the report said.

The first tanker, Al Kharaitiyat, began crossing Hormuz on Saturday via an Iranian-approved northern route and completed the transit on Sunday.

Iran’s exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi warned Western governments against seeking deals with what he called supposedly moderate figures in the Islamic Republic, saying the system was controlled by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

“You’re falling back into the same trapping that the regime has laid out for decades to make you think that there are some elements that are more manageable and more reasonable that can be dealt with,” Pahlavi said at Politico’s Security Summit on Tuesday.

“The problem is that such a thing doesn’t truly exist,” he said. “They’re just people that ultimately are there to preserve the system.”

Pahlavi said the Islamic Republic had been weakened but that its “radical elements” remained in charge.

“You’re facing now a system that has become a de facto paramilitary dictatorship,” Pahlavi added. “It’s the IRGC that controls ultimately everything, and no one else can resist.”