American decisionmakers weighed new financial and military options to change the course of the war as the U.S. and Iran continued to trade strikes Friday.
The New York Times reported Friday, citing four anonymous sources, that President Donald Trump met with cabinet officials to consider whether to escalate the Iran War.
Trump said Thursday that he would use confiscated Iranian funds to cover for any damages sustained to vessels attacked by the IRGC in the Strait of Hormuz. “These damages may be very substantial but, nevertheless, this is the fair and equitable thing to do,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. Iran’s Foreign Abbas Araghchi on Thursday evening condemned the move, writing on X that “seizing another nation’s assets to pay for unrelated future claims is an incendiary precedent” and warning that “once governments normalize confiscation, no one’s assets are safe.”
Kpler shipping tracker reported that Strait of Hormuz traffic Thursday “fell to six confirmed crossings, down 60 per cent from the previous day, with all but one vessel using the Iranian Unilateral Scheme.” Bab el-Mandeb traffic, however, increased to 49 confirmed crossings on the same day. Following the Houthis’ declaration of a “maritime embargo” against Saudi Arabia, the Financial Times reported Friday that several shipping insurers have told brokers that they will not sell cargo insurance to Saudi-linked ships in the Red Sea. Ships linked to Israel, the U.S., and the U.K. currently must pay higher premiums for insurance for their cargo traveling through the Red Sea. A broker who spoke with FT warns Saudi Arabia “may be moving into the same bracket.”
The office of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he and Trump will meet at the White House on Tuesday. It will be Netanyahu’s seventh visit to the White House since Trump took office for a second term.
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Reuters, citing Pakistani sources, reported that China initiated a push that is now being led by Pakistan for new talks to end the war.
The Wall Street Journal, citing anonymous sources, reported Friday that Bahrain and Kuwait secretly sent jets to bomb Iran earlier this month, with the UAE providing targeting for the airstrikes.
The price of oil remained elevated, with Brent Crude at over $96.40 per barrel on Friday. AAA reported the national average price of a gallon of regular gas at $4.10.
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