US warns shipping firms over paying Iran to transit the Strait of Hormuz

BEIRUT (AP) — The United States is warning shipping companies they could face sanctions for making payments to Iran to safely pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control alert posted Friday adds pressure in the standoff between the U.S. and Iran over control of the strait at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, where about a fifth of the world’s trade in oil and natural gas typically passes.

Iran effectively closed the strait by attacking and threatening ships after the U.S. and Israel launched a war on Feb. 28. It later began offering some ships safe passage by detouring them through routes closer to its shore, charging fees at times.

That ” tollbooth ” effort is the focus of the U.S. sanctions warning, which said payment demands could include transfers not only in cash but also “digital assets, offsets, informal swaps, or other in-kind payments,” including charitable donations and payments at Iranian embassies.

The U.S. responded to Iran’s closure of the strait with a naval blockade of Iranian ports on April 13, preventing Iranian tankers from leaving and depriving Tehran of oil revenue it needs to shore up its ailing economy.

The U.S. Central Command has said 45 commercial ships have been told to turn around since the blockade began.

Nobel laureate Mohammadi’s health at ‘very high risk’

Imprisoned Nobel Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi remained hospitalized in Zanjan in northwestern Iran after being transferred there from prison late Friday. Her foundation described the condition of the rights lawyer as “very high risk,” with fluctuating blood pressure and severe nausea.

But medical teams in Zanjan have requested her medical records before performing any treatment, though it has recommended that she be transferred to Tehran for treatment by her own doctors, the foundation said.

However, “the Intelligence (Ministry) is still opposing the transfer of Narges to a hospital in Tehran for angiography,” her husband, Taghi Rahmani, said, referring to an imaging of blood vessels.

“Until the angiography is done, it is not possible to determine what her main illness currently is,” Rahmani, who is based in Paris, said in a voice message shared with The Associated Press by the foundation.

Mohammadi’s brother, Oslo-based Hamidreza Mohammadi, said in a voice message shared with the AP that the doctors have not been able to treat her fluctuating blood pressure.

Mohammadi was urgently transferred from prison late Friday. The foundation said her legal team is pursuing the matter with the General Prosecutor’s office.

Trump rejects the latest Iranian proposal

U.S. President Donald Trump has rejected Iran’s latest proposal to end the war.

“They want to make a deal, I’m not satisfied with it, so we’ll see what happens,” Trump said Friday. He didn’t elaborate but expressed frustration with Iran’s leadership, calling it “very disjointed.”

Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency said Tehran handed over its plan to mediators in Pakistan on Thursday night.

The shaky three-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran appears to be holding, though both countries have traded accusations of violations.

Negotiations continued by phone after Trump called off his envoys’ trip to Pakistan last weekend, the president said. Trump this week floated a new plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran hangs two men convicted of spying for Israel

Iran on Saturday said it hanged two men convicted of spying for Israel.

The Iranian judiciary’s news outlet, Mizanonline, identified the men as Yaghoub Karimpour and Nasser Bekrzadeh. It said they were hanged after the Supreme Court upheld death sentences.

The news outlet said Karimpour was accused of sending “sensitive information” to an officer in Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, while Bekrzadeh was alleged to have sent details about government and religious leaders as well as information about Natanz. The central Iranian city is home to a nuclear enrichment facility bombed by Israel and the U.S. last year.

Iran has hanged more than a dozen people over alleged espionage and terrorist activities in recent weeks. Rights groups say Iran routinely holds closed-door trials in which defendants are unable to challenge the accusations they face.
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Associated Press writers Collin Binkley in Washington and Nasser Karimi in Tehran contributed to this report.