Hezbollah said it fired rockets at northern Israel, claiming the attack was a response to what it called violations of the US-Iran ceasefire agreement, according to AFP News. The Iran-backed group said it targeted the Israeli settlement of Manara and vowed to continue strikes until “the US-Israeli aggression against our country and our people stops.” The announcement followed Israel’s attack on Lebanon, which killed over 200 people in the deadliest wave of strikes since the conflict began.
Iran said to have closed Hormuz amid Israeli strikes
Iran has supposedly closed the Strait of Hormuz for oil tankers amid Israeli attacks on Lebanon, Fars News Agency reported on Wednesday.Earlier today, local media also reported that the Iranian navy supposedly threatened ships and vessels trying to pass through the critical shipping route without its permission with “destruction,” citing several shipping sources. In addition, a spokesperson for Iran’s Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters’ Union announced that Tehran will begin charging ships to transit the Strait of Hormuz during a two-week ceasefire.
NN: That did not last long!!
Saudi Arabia’s Key East-West Oil Pipeline Hit by Drone
April 8 (Reuters) – Iran attacked Saudi Arabia’s East-West Pipeline just hours after a ceasefire was agreed to pause the Iran war, an industry source told Reuters on Wednesday, hitting its only crude oil export route since hostilities began.
Saudi Arabia’s East-West Pipeline, currently its only outlet for exporting crude oil, was hit in an Iranian attack while other facilities in the kingdom were also targeted, an industry source told Reuters on Wednesday. The pipeline was diverting around 7 million barrels per day (bpd) from the kingdom’s oil heartland in the east to the Red Sea port of Yanbu after Iran effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz, trapping huge volumes of oil and gas in the Gulf and sending prices skyrocketing. Flows through the pipeline are expected to be affected, the source said, adding damage was being assessed. That could exacerbate what experts have called the world’s worst energy crisis. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said in a statement on Wednesday they had hit several targets across the region with missiles and drones, including what the IRGC called oil facilities of U.S. companies in Yanbu. The exact timing of the attack was not immediately clear nor the extent of any damage or the impact on the pipeline’s operations.
The Saudi government communications office and pipeline operator Saudi Aramco did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment. The United States and Iran on Tuesday agreed to a two-week ceasefire brokered by Pakistan meant to suspend a six-week-old war that has killed thousands, spread across the Middle East and caused unprecedented energy market disruption. Attacks on other Gulf countries were not halted despite the agreement.
The Kuwaiti army said that an intensified wave of Iranian attacks had targeted the country since 0800 a.m. local time (0500 GMT), adding drone attacks caused extensive damage to oil facilities, power plants and water desalination plants.
The United Arab Emirates said it was dealing with Iranian missile and drone attacks and Bahrain reported that an Iranian attack damaged houses in the Sitra area. Aramco uses about 2 million bpd of the East-West Pipeline’s capacity domestically, leaving roughly 5 million bpd for export. Yanbu loadings averaged a near-capacity 4.6 million bpd in the week starting March 23, shipping data showed. The pipeline had left the kingdom as a relative winner from the strait’s closure, with its March estimated oil proceeds were higher than a year earlier.
Iran said to consider military action against Israel
Tehran is currently assessing carrying out a military operation against Israel in light of its violations of the ceasefire agreement following massive strikes on Lebanon earlier today, a military source told Fars News Agency on Wednesday. The source emphasized that the latest actions by Israel may indicate that Washington is unable to control Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or that the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) has given its approval for strikes on Lebanon. Meanwhile, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it shot down an Israeli Air Force HERMES-900 drone in Iranian airspace, warning that any intrusion of hostile aircraft is considered a violation of the ceasefire, and promised to respond. The latest turn of events already puts the tenuous ceasefire agreement in jeopardy, less than a day after it appeared to enter into force.
NN: This ha ha ha deal has as much as snow cone in the desert
Kuwait, UAE say Iran attacks continue despite ceasefire
Kuwaiti Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defense of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) said on Wednesday that Iranian attacks are continuing despite a two-week ceasefire. “The Kuwaiti air defenses have been dealing, since 8:00 a.m. today and up to now, with an intense wave of hostile Iranian criminal attacks, where (28) drones were intercepted that targeted the State of Kuwait,” official spokesperson of the Ministry of Defense Colonel Saud Abdulaziz Al-Otaibi shared on X. Some were aimed at “vital oil facilities and power stations in the south of the country,” causing “significant material damage to oil infrastructure facilities, power plants, and water desalination plants,” it said. The UAE’s defense ministry added its systems are “actively engaging with missile and UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] threats,” noting the sounds heard across the country were due to “intercepting ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones.”
NN: This ceasefire is doomed to fail
Vance: Ceasefire with Iran is fragile
United States Vice President JD Vance said on Wednesday that the ceasefire deal reached with Iran is “fragile,” claiming that some people in the Iranian regime are open to negotiations, while others are “lying” about the ceasefire deal. Vance said US President Donald Trump is “impatient” to make a deal with Tehran and that he instructed the US team to negotiate “in good faith.” However, Vance also warned that “if the Iranians don’t do the exact same thing, they’re going to find out that the president, the United States, is not one to mess around.”
NN: It is obvious to me these negotiations are going no where fast. In fact the ceasefire is a sick joke. Trump just wanted to get the stuck oil out of the gulf. And 2 weeks is the right time frame to move that oil and give the market temporary relief. This is a great chance to add more barrels to your trade at great prices,
Trump suspends bombing of Iran for two weeks
United States President Donald Trump announced that he has suspended “the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks,” subject to Iran agreeing on the “complete, immediate, and safe opening of the Strait of Hormuz.” “This will be a double sided CEASEFIRE! The reason for doing so is that we have already met and exceeded all Military objectives, and are very far along with a definitive Agreement concerning Longterm PEACE with Iran, and PEACE in the Middle East,” Trump said, less than two hours before his deadline was set to expire. He also described Iran’s 10-point peace plan as a “workable basis on which to negotiate.” “Almost all of the various points of past contention have been agreed to between the United States and Iran, but a two week period will allow the Agreement to be finalized and consummated,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
NN: They still don’t understand the oil market. this adds very little oil to the market. Ships already loaded will leave the straights. By the time cargoes will arrive at the refiners it will be at least a month.
And new ships empty to load are at least a month away since they were diverted to other ports.
And it gets worse because of damage to oil infrastructure available oil to load is severely restricted.
Trump said to be in ‘defiance mode’ ahead of Iran deadline
A senior official in the Trump administration said on Tuesday that United States President Donald Trump is operating in a “mode of defiance,” adding the president is proud of a recent operation to rescue a missing airman, according to the Wall Street Journal. The official said Trump remains open to a diplomatic solution but does not expect one, while continuing to apply maximum pressure. His public remarks are meant to show “how aggressive he is willing to be,” the official added. Earlier, Trump warned that a “whole civilization will die tonight” if a deal is not reached. Another administration official previously said that no decision has been made on potential US action if Iran fails to reach an agreement by the 8:00 pm ET deadline.
NN: Its a game of chicken
OPEC+ flags risks to energy infrastructure, shipping routes
The Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners (OPEC+) held a videoconference on Sunday, stressing the danger to energy infrastructure and maritime routes in the current geopolitical turmoil. “In this regard, the Committee commended the [Declaration of Cooperation] DoC countries that took the initiative to ensure the continued availability of supplies, particularly through the use of alternative export routes, which have contributed to reducing market volatility,” the official statement read.
The JMMC will reconvene on June 7, 2026.
Oil reverses losses, WTI tops $115
The prices of oil futures pared previous losses on Tuesday, trading in the green as market optimism faded once more following US President Donald Trump’s reiteration of his warning to destroy Iran’s civilian infrastructure if the Islamic Republic does not agree to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. He also threatened to destroy every bridge and power plant in Iran within hours of his “final” Tuesday deadline.
WTI for deliveries in May added 2.6% at 12:52 am ET and went for $115.33 per barrel. At the same time, Brent for settlements in June rose by 1.32% to sell for $111.24 per barrel.