Iran says it coordinated 26 vessels through Strait of Hormuz amid stalled talks

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Wednesday it coordinated the transit of 26 vessels through the Strait of Hormuz in the past 24 hours, as negotiations between Washington and Tehran over reopening the strategic waterway remain deadlocked.

“Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is being carried out with permission and in coordination with the IRGC Navy,” the IRGC said in a statement carried by Iran’s state-affiliated ISNA news agency.

Before the war between the United States and Israel against Iran began on February 28, approximately one-fifth of global energy exports passed through the strait. Tehran imposed a blockade on the waterway after the conflict erupted.

The Trump administration responded by imposing a blockade on Iranian ports, effectively choking Iran’s oil exports, which are the country’s main source of revenue.

The standoff has placed significant strain on global energy markets and raised concerns about a worsening humanitarian crisis.

On Wednesday, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) warned that the blockade could trigger a severe global food price crisis within six to 12 months, calling the disruption “the beginning of a systemic agrifood shock.”

The Rome-based agency said the disruption is no longer solely a shipping or energy-market problem and cautioned that the shock is moving through global agrifood systems in stages.

“The shock is unfolding in stages: energy, fertilizer, seeds, lower yields, commodity price increases, then food inflation,” the FAO said.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday cited “progress” in negotiations with Iran but threatened to resume military action if Tehran fails to agree to a deal.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned that a “return to war will feature many more surprises.” The IRGC also said that if Iran is attacked again, it would widen the conflict by extending fighting “this time” beyond the region.

Will Todman, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Al Jazeera that both sides appear convinced that extending their respective blockades will increase their leverage.

“I think it’s very difficult to see something that will fundamentally change the calculation, because both sides seem to believe that the longer this goes on, the greater their leverage will be because the more their opponents will be suffering economically,” Todman said Wednesday.