Irán avanzó para reafirmar su control sobre el estrecho de Ormuz al declarar que los buques no podrán cruzarlo sin su autorización y al sentar las bases para futuros esquemas de cobro al señalar que podría introducir “tarifas de seguro”.

Todas las embarcaciones que transiten por el estrecho deberán obtener una póliza de seguro obligatoria, actualmente gratuita, pero que podría implicar cargos en el futuro, según indicó la Autoridad del Estrecho del Golfo Pérsico en un documento publicado en su sitio web. También señaló que los buques deberán seguir una ruta establecida que pasa junto a la costa iraní y que las alternativas están prohibidas.

En los últimos días, grupos navales occidentales han indicado a los buques que recomiendan una ruta cercana a la costa de Omán, aunque señalaron que existen otras opciones, una señal de que podrían abrirse carriles marítimos paralelos mientras se despeja de minas una zona en el centro de Ormuz.

Un elevado volumen de petróleo salió de Ormuz en las horas posteriores a la firma del acuerdo provisional de paz entre Estados Unidos e Irán esta semana. Sin embargo, el tráfico observable se redujo para el viernes y la marina de Pakistán informó que se detectó una mina cerca de la costa de Omán, lo que incrementa los riesgos de utilizar la ruta no iraní.

Las navieras y productores están cada vez más preocupados ante la posibilidad de que Irán intente cobrar por el uso del Estrecho en el futuro, después de que el memorando de entendimiento firmado con Estados Unidos solo garantizara el libre tránsito durante los 60 días de vigencia del acuerdo. También han buscado orientación sobre cómo funcionarán los cruces por Ormuz tras la firma del pacto de paz y sobre el proceso para retirar las minas.

Aliados de Estados Unidos encabezados por Reino Unido están presionando con urgencia a la administración Trump para que no acepte ni normalice los intentos de Irán de introducir pagos para atravesar el estrecho, según un alto funcionario.

“Por el momento, este seguro se proporciona gratuitamente al propietario de la embarcación, con todos los gastos cubiertos por la República Islámica de Irán”, señala el documento iraní. “La Autoridad del Estrecho del Golfo Pérsico se reserva el derecho de introducir tarifas de seguro en el futuro, que serán determinadas por la aseguradora correspondiente. Los propietarios deberán entonces adquirir y renovar la cobertura según corresponda”.

Los flujos visibles de petróleo a través de la vía marítima se desaceleraron considerablemente el viernes. Aunque un superpetrolero apareció cerca de Mascate, Omán, lo que sugiere que salió del golfo Pérsico, no hubo otros envíos observables a través de los transpondedores de los buques. Aun así, millones de barriles han comenzado a salir en las últimas semanas por la ruta sur cercana a Omán, muchas veces con los transpondedores apagados, por lo que es posible que el volumen real transportado sea superior al visible.

Irán ha logrado movilizar millones de barriles de carga que permanecían bloqueados por Estados Unidos en un puerto situado justo fuera del golfo Pérsico desde la firma del acuerdo de paz. Esta semana se detectó la salida de petroleros con capacidad para transportar al menos 20 millones de barriles desde el puerto iraní de Chabahar, en el golfo de Omán.

La Autoridad del Estrecho del Golfo Pérsico fue creada por Irán durante la guerra, pero posteriormente fue sancionada por Estados Unidos. Los vecinos de Irán han rechazado su legitimidad y han pedido a los armadores que no interactúen con el organismo.

El documento hará poco para tranquilizar a los propietarios de embarcaciones, que ya buscaban claridad sobre las condiciones de tránsito por el Estrecho. Corredores marítimos y propietarios de petroleros señalaron el viernes que existe una demanda muy limitada para contratar buques destinados a cargar petróleo en puertos del golfo Pérsico, un paso necesario para que se concreten los embarques desde las terminales de exportación.

Los buques deben presentar solicitudes ante la Autoridad del Estrecho del Golfo Pérsico para recibir un permiso de paso, según el documento. El organismo también publicó un mapa con las rutas que considera seguras.

El jueves, fuerzas navales occidentales publicaron las coordenadas de la ruta que recomiendan utilizar al cruzar Ormuz. También indicaron que los mapas con las posiciones más recientes conocidas de las minas están disponibles bajo solicitud.

For months, senior Trump administration officials argued that Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal helped shield Tehran’s nuclear ambitions and was a key reason the U.S. launched Operation Epic Fury attacks on the country. 

Now, President Donald Trump is suggesting Iran having missiles may not be a problem at all.

«If other countries have them, it’s a little bit unfair for them not to have some. If Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and they all have some, I would say that in relative proportion, I think it’s okay,» Trump said at the G7 Wednesday. «Am I going to let Saudi Arabia have missiles, but [Iran] can’t have them? It doesn’t work that way.» 

«Missiles aren’t the problem. They hurt a little location, but they don’t blow up the planet.»

«The Gulf nations will address the nonnuclear issues, as we’ll be talking about the ballistic missiles,» the president added. «And we’ll talk, also, about the terrorist proxies that they have that — we don’t want that to happen.» 

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Trump made the remarks while discussing whether Iran should be permitted to retain missile capabilities in a news conference at the G7 in Évian-les-Bains, France, just as details of the memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran were being released. 

The comments strike a much different tone than arguments repeatedly made by senior administration officials in recent months, who described Iran’s ballistic missile force as both a major threat to regional security and a protective shield for Tehran’s nuclear program.

«Iran can never have a nuclear weapon and we will not allow Iran to hide behind the immunity of a massive short-term ballistic missile inventory, or the ability to make them or launch them,» Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters in a press conference on March 3. «What they are trying to do, and have been trying to do for a very long time, is build a conventional weapons capability as a shield to hide behind.»

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Other senior officials repeatedly described degrading Iran’s missile capabilities as a central objective of Operation Epic Fury. 

In remarks at the White House on March 2, Trump said, «Our objectives are clear. First, we’re destroying Iran’s missile capabilities … and their capacity to produce brand new ones.»

War Secretary Pete Hegseth later said March 4 the mission was «laser-focused» on obliterating Iran’s missiles and the facilities that produce them, while White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the same day one of the administration’s primary goals was to «destroy the regime’s deadly ballistic missiles and completely raze their missile industry to the ground.»  

Heavy weapons, including ballistic missiles, air defense systems and unmanned aerial vehicles, are displayed during the 44th anniversary of the eight-year war with Iraq, known as Holy Defense Week, at Baharestan Square in Tehran, Iran, on Sept. 25, 2024. (Photo by Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Rubio repeatedly returned to the theme throughout the operation, arguing that degrading Iran’s missile force was necessary to prevent Iran from using conventional military power as cover for a future nuclear weapons program.

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«This is about very specific objectives,» Rubio told reporters on March 30. «The President laid them out on the first night of the operation… Here they are — you should write them down. Number one, the destruction of their air force. Number two, the destruction of their navy. Number three, the severe diminishing of their missile launching capability. And number four, the destruction of their factories so they can’t make more missiles and more drones to threaten us in the future. All of this so that they can never hide behind it to acquire a nuclear weapon. That was our objective from the beginning; that remains our objective now.» 

Leavitt made similar comments the same day, saying the objectives of Operation Epic Fury included «destroying their ballistic missiles» and dismantling the infrastructure used to produce them while ensuring Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon.

Trump’s remarks at the G7 also raised questions about the administration’s approach to Iran’s nuclear program, another issue that administration officials had previously described in far less flexible terms.

Trump’s comments also come as the administration pursues a memorandum of understanding with Iran that leaves unresolved one of the central disputes in the nuclear negotiations: the future of Tehran’s enrichment program.

Under the framework agreement unveiled this week, the United States and Iran agreed to spend 60 days negotiating the fate of Iran’s nearly 900-pound stockpile of near-weapons-grade 60% enriched uranium and any future enrichment activities. Administration officials said the minimum outcome under discussion would involve down-blending the material under International Atomic Energy Agency supervision, while acknowledging that key details of a final agreement remain unsettled.

Officials described Iran’s willingness to dilute its stockpile as a significant concession, but also acknowledged that the memorandum does not resolve whether Iran will ultimately be permitted to retain any enrichment capability.

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President Donald Trump arrives for a gala dinner at the Versailles Palace in Versailles, France. (Nathan Laine/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Trump appeared to strike a more accommodating tone when discussing Iran’s access to nuclear power at the G7.

«It is a little hard, though, when you say that somebody wants it, other people have it, other, adjoining states have it. And you’re not letting them have it for purposes of electricity and things like that,» Trump said. «It’s always a little tough. You have to use a little common sense.»

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The administration had previously drawn a much harder line on Iran’s nuclear program. Special envoy Steve Witkoff said the United States could not allow Iran to retain «even 1 percent» enrichment capability, while White House officials repeatedly described the end of Iranian enrichment as a red line.

The White House referred back to Trump’s recent remarks on missiles when asked for additional comment. «

«We are going to let the President’s comments stand,» a State Department spokesperson said when asked for comment.  

The Pentagon could not immediately be reached for comment. 

President Donald Trump’s new Iran framework is drawing warnings from nuclear experts who say the deal could leave Tehran too much control over its uranium stockpile unless inspectors first locate, secure and verify the material.

The concern centers on language in the reported U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding (MOU) saying the two sides will resolve the fate of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile through a still-to-be-negotiated process. The MOU identifies on-site «downblending,» which means diluting enriched uranium so it is less usable for a nuclear weapon, under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) supervision as the minimum acceptable method for dealing with the material. 

The MOU does not explicitly say Iran will retain a civilian nuclear program, but it says the two sides will discuss enrichment and other matters related to Iran’s «nuclear needs» in a final deal.

«Unfettered verification is everything,» Chuck DeVore, Chief National Initiatives Officer at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, told Fox News Digital. «There can be no denial for teams to inspect on the ground. Remote, technological means can achieve a lot, but nothing beats in-person inspections.»

TRUMP NUCLEAR TALKS FACE DEFINING QUESTION: WHAT HAPPENS TO IRAN’S URANIUM STOCKPILE?

The warnings from experts come as the MOU has already been signed, while planned follow-up talks in Switzerland aimed at launching technical negotiations were postponed Friday. The delay leaves key nuclear details unresolved as the agreement begins a 60-day window for negotiating a final deal.

IAEA supervision would only be meaningful if inspectors first regain enough access to fully account for Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile and ensure Tehran does not retain unchecked control of the material, nuclear experts who spoke with Fox News Digital warned. Meanwhile, a recent IAEA report released this month underscored the agency’s limited visibility into Iran’s declared nuclear program after last year’s military strikes, saying that aside from a single inspection at an Iranian nuclear power plant, the agency «has not received information from Iran» about the status of its other declared nuclear facilities or associated nuclear material. «Nor has the Agency had access» to those sites for in-field verification, the report noted.

A senior administration official told Fox News Digital on background that the MOU required Iran’s regime to reaffirm that it will not procure or develop nuclear weapons, calling that a critical first step under Iran’s new Supreme Leader.

The official said the U.S. has reached understandings with Iran when it comes to its uranium stockpile, and the new deal is the first step of turning these understandings into real results, which include progress on enriched uranium stockpiles, dismantlement of nuclear sites, an enrichment ban and inspection access. The official added that the U.S. has already had productive discussions with Iran on those issues and, now that the MOU is formally in place, negotiators will work to make quick progress.

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The official also referred Fox News Digital to comments Vice President JD Vance made Thursday, when he said the deal’s benefits depend on Iran following through on its promises.

«They have promised not to enrich. They have promised that they would allow inspectors in to destroy that highly enriched stockpile. And then, of course, it’s not usable anymore. You take it somewhere else,» Vance said. «They promised a number of things, and that’s why the deal contemplates a number of benefits if they do those things. But it doesn’t do anything if they don’t actually meet those promises.»

Vice President JD Vance listens as a reporter asks a question in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, on Thursday, June 18, 2026, in Washington. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

Andrea Stricker, deputy director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Nonproliferation Program, told Fox News Digital that any credible agreement must begin with recovering and safeguarding Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile, and not allowing Tehran to keep control of the material while it is diluted inside the country.

«Without verifiably dismantling and destroying all of Iran’s fundamental nuclear capabilities — nuclear material, facilities, centrifuges, manufacturing capabilities, equipment, documentation, and weaponization capacities, and ensuring scientists are redirected to civilian work — Iran’s pledge on paper is meaningless,» she told Fox News Digital, noting that Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile could, if recovered and further enriched, provide enough weapons-grade material for roughly 22 nuclear weapons.

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DeVore was more cautious about assigning a single number to Iran’s potential weapons capacity, saying the estimate depends heavily on the sophistication of the weapon design. He said the same stockpile could translate into fewer basic weapons or be stretched further by a more advanced nuclear program.

He said on-site downblending, if properly verified, would be aimed at making Iran’s roughly 1,000 pounds of 60% enriched uranium unavailable for further enrichment. DeVore cautioned that the material would still need additional processing to be turned into weapons-grade uranium and said he does not believe Tehran can currently do that because key facilities were destroyed in last year’s strikes.

A satellite image shows damage at the Fordo enrichment facility in Iran after U.S. strikes on June 22, 2025. (Maxar Technologies)

Asked what would be needed to make any Iran deal enforceable, DeVore told Fox News Digital the U.S. must avoid repeating what he described as a key weakness of the Obama-era nuclear deal: allowing Tehran to restrict access or keep certain sites off limits. He said the «ultimate question» is on-site verification, warning that Washington cannot allow itself to be pushed into «an agreement for agreement’s sake.»

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DeVore also said the Obama-era JCPOA gave inspectors too much notice and too little freedom to inspect suspicious locations as well, arguing that any new deal must avoid a system where Iran can delay, limit or steer inspections before the IAEA gets on the ground.

The flag of Iran waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency headquarters in Vienna, Austria. (Florian Schroetter/AP Photo)

DeVore told Fox News Digital that his concern is informed by his experience as a young special assistant for foreign affairs in the Reagan administration, when he worked on verification issues surrounding Cold War-era nuclear agreements with the Soviet Union, including the Peaceful Nuclear Explosions Treaty and the Threshold Test Ban Treaty.

In those negotiations, DeVore said, the danger was that the minimum level of verification sought by defense and intelligence officials could become the starting point for diplomats, meaning the final deal could end up below what experts believed was necessary.

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«Once you say, ‘This is the minimum we need,’ then that becomes the starting point, so anything agreed to is less than that,» DeVore said. «That’s what I fear.»

Fox News Digital reached out to the IAEA asking whether the agency can currently account for Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile and whether it has any comment on the verification questions raised by the reported framework.