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UN Plans Evacuation of Over 11,000 Sailors While Hundreds of Tankers Remain Stranded in Gulf
The International Maritime Organization will evacuate sailors trapped after the Strait of Hormuz closure. The operation follows an interim deal signed last week to end the US-Israel-Iran conflict. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio began a regional tour on Tuesday to discuss implementation.
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The UN's International Maritime Organization plans to evacuate more than 11,000 sailors stranded in the Gulf after Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz. The large-scale operation will proceed in cooperation with Iran, Oman, the United States, other coastal states and the maritime industry, IMO secretary-general Arsenio Dominguez said.
Dominguez stated that safety guarantees have been secured and navigation conditions verified.
Two temporary routes through the strait will be used, with vessels contacted individually, according to Oman's notice to mariners. The IMO will issue daily reports on ships departing safely. An interim deal signed around 17 June ended the conflict that began with attacks on Iran on 28 February.
Iran closed the strait after those attacks, pushing Brent crude prices above $100 per barrel and halting shipments of energy and fertilizer. The United States and Iran continue to differ on details of the Memorandum of Understanding. President Donald Trump posted on Tuesday that Iran had agreed to the highest level of nuclear inspections.
Iran stated the IAEA would not inspect sites bombed last year. A US official said the Iranians had agreed to robust inspections of the remains of their nuclear weapons programme. Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said during a visit to Pakistan on Tuesday that Iran would never negotiate about its defensive capabilities.
Rubio began a Gulf tour on Tuesday in the UAE, with planned stops in Kuwait and Bahrain. He stated that no country may charge tolls on the international waterway. At least 172 vessels have transited the reopened strait since 18 June, including 42 on Saturday, according to Kpler data.
