Tehran counts the shrinkage

President Masoud Pezeshkian told state media that sanctions and a naval blockade had cut Iran's exports and imports by nearly 35 per cent. He added that Iran had still sold about 90 million barrels of oil during the short-lived memorandum of understanding signed with Washington in June, when sales were briefly permitted.[1]

In a Saturday statement the government described diplomacy and defence as two complementary wings for protecting national interests, and said Tehran would keep pursuing diplomacy while maintaining what it describes as control of the Strait of Hormuz. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not appeared in public since the war began on February 28, repeated in a written statement his call for ministers to address inflation, unemployment and prices.[1]

A handover in the North Sea

The Royal Navy said HMS Duncan, HMS St Albans and HMS Severn, with a Merlin helicopter overhead, tracked four vessels for three days last week through the North Sea and the English Channel. The Russian destroyer Admiral Levchenko was escorting the sanctioned cargo ships General Skobelev and Sparta, and a NATO ally took over the monitoring off the French coast.[2]

First Sea Lord Gen Sir Gwyn Jenkins said Russian shadow-fleet vessels have increasingly been forced to change routes since the operation, adding cost and delay to their journeys. Data cited by the BBC show Royal Navy activity to monitor Russian movements is up 25 per cent so far this year compared with 2025; the UK has designated more than 500 vessels it says belong to the shadow fleet.[2]

What moved on the scales?

Yesterday's column here noted three Hormuz tools on the table and no joint text yet. Pezeshkian's public admission of a 35 per cent shrinkage now puts a figure on the pressure's cost; no signed arrangement that would change the parties' options has been announced.[1], [3]

On one side the blockade and sanctions cutting trade, on the other shadow-fleet tracking along a NATO line, show the Western coalition sustaining economic pressure at sea. Pezeshkian's diplomacy pledge keeps a channel open; but without a published text naming Hormuz responsibilities and a monitoring method, it is too early to say balance has been restored.[1], [2]