Tankers Burning in Hormuz: UAE Breaks Its Silence
Trump has simultaneously announced a 20% charge on vessels passing through the strait under the new US blockade — effectively a toll on the world's most critical oil passage.
Tankers Burning in Hormuz: UAE Breaks Its Silence
Two tankers struck by Iranian missiles in the Strait of Hormuz. The UAE — which has spent years threading the needle between Washington and Tehran — has now used the word "brazen." That is not a diplomatic word. That is a country telling you which side of the line it has chosen.
The third consecutive night of US strikes followed, with the Pentagon stating the campaign will "continue imposing a heavy cost on Iranian forces and degrade their ability to attack commercial shipping," per the BBC. Trump has simultaneously announced a 20% charge on vessels passing through the strait under the new US blockade — effectively a toll on the world's most critical oil passage.
Roughly 20% of global oil moves through Hormuz. Two tankers burning changes the insurance calculation for every shipping company on earth. Rates will move. Cargo will reroute — or wait. Neither option is cheap.
The UAE's public condemnation matters more than it might appear. Abu Dhabi has Iranian trading partners, Iranian neighbours, and Iranian-origin residents. Speaking this plainly signals that Iranian missiles hitting ships off Emirati shores is no longer a geopolitical abstraction for Gulf states — it is arriving on their coastline, per The Guardian's live coverage.
The question no one in Washington has answered: what happens on day 61?
