Iran-Linked Tanker Challenges US Blockade in Arabian Sea

Middle Eastern outlets focus on Iran’s efforts to ride out the blockade and find workarounds, including land routes through Pakistan and reports of tankers that have slipped through US patrols. Coverage highlights that Iran’s economy, though strained, is still functioning and that Tehran links any reopening of Hormuz directly to a full lifting of the blockade. This block often portrays the US naval campaign as collective punishment backed by Gulf partners and expects Iran to keep using Hormuz and ship seizures as bargaining chips unless Washington eases pressure.

• •Iran is exploring more land routes through Pakistan and other neighbors to move thousands of stranded containers and reduce reliance on sea lanes.
• •Iranian officials insist the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed while the US blockade of Iranian ports and shipping continues.
• •Some Iranian oil tankers have managed to break through the US blockade, according to shipping data cited in regional reports.
• •Gulf states such as Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE and Saudi Arabia are described by Iranian officials as complicit in enforcing the US-led blockade.
• •Iran’s seizure of ships in Hormuz is framed as a response to US pressure rather than an unprovoked escalation.