{"id":47663,"date":"2026-04-14T12:04:27","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T12:04:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=47663"},"modified":"2026-04-14T12:04:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T12:04:27","slug":"saudi-arabia-presses-us-to-resume-iran-talks-lift-blockade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=47663","title":{"rendered":"Saudi Arabia presses US to resume Iran talks, lift blockade"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>Saudi Arabia urged the United States to lift its blockade of Iranian ports and resume negotiations, warning that the move risks escalating tensions in a critical maritime corridor.<\/p>\n<p>According to Arab officials cited by the Wall Street Journal, Riyadh fears Iran could retaliate by closing the Bab al-Mandeb strait\u2014a key Red Sea passage now used for most of Saudi oil exports.<\/p>\n<p>Saudi Arabia is pressing the U.S. to drop its blockade of Hormuz, fearing President Trump\u2019s move to close it off could lead Iran to escalate and disrupt other important shipping routes https:\/\/t.co\/sBFyccQUbQ<br \/>\n\u2014 The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) April 14, 2026<\/p>\n<p>Saudi officials said they have obtained assurances from Yemen\u2019s Houthi group that it will not target the kingdom or vessels passing through the strait. However, they cautioned Washington that the situation remains unpredictable and could shift quickly.<\/p>\n<p>Riyadh warned that the Houthis might become more directly involved in the conflict if Iran increases pressure, and could even start charging transit fees on ships using the waterway.<\/p>\n<p>Erik Meyersson, chief emerging markets strategist at Sweden\u2019s SEB bank, told the WSJ that such steps would allow Iran to escalate indirectly. \u201cIf you restrict our oil exports, we can disrupt yours,\u201d he said, referring to Saudi shipments from the Yanbu terminal.<\/p>\n<p>Tasnim News Agency reported that any threat towards the Strait of Hormuz could significantly affect global trade. IRGC Spokesperson General Hossein Mohebbi said on Monday, &#8220;We have not yet revealed many of our capabilities. If the war continues, we will unveil capabilities that the enemy has no conception of.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Also Read:  US president claims fresh Iran contact for deal<\/p>\n<p>Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser on foreign policy to Iran\u2019s supreme leader, said earlier this month that Iran views the strait in the same way it does the Strait of Hormuz. He warned that any repeat of past US actions could quickly disrupt global energy flows and trade.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, China&#8217;s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that a US blockade of Iranian ports is &#8220;dangerous \u2060and irresponsible&#8221;, \u200bwarning it would only aggravate tensions. It did \u200bnot mention whether Chinese ships were passing the strait.<\/p>\n<p>A third Iran-linked tanker was entering the Gulf via the \u200bStrait of Hormuz on Tuesday, on the first full day of \u200cthe US blockade on vessels calling at Iranian ports, shipping data showed.\u00a0Prior to this, two US-sanctioned tankers passed through the narrow waterway.<\/p>\n<p>As the three vessels transiting the strait were not \u200bheading to Iranian ports, they are not covered by the \u2060blockade.<\/p>\n<p>US President Donald Trump announced the blockade on Sunday after weekend peace talks in Islamabad between the US and Iran failed \u200bto reach a deal.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Saudi Arabia urged the United States to lift its blockade of Iranian ports and resume negotiations, warning that the move risks escalating tensions in a critical maritime corridor. According to Arab officials cited by the Wall Street Journal, Riyadh fears Iran could retaliate by closing the Bab al-Mandeb strait\u2014a key Red Sea passage now used [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=47663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47663\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=47663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=47663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=47663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}