{"id":115269,"date":"2026-05-20T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/menaplus\/?p=115269"},"modified":"2026-05-20T07:31:58","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T07:31:58","slug":"chinese-vlccs-pass-hormuz-as-tehran-washington-exchange-threats-of-renewed-attacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/menaplus\/2026\/05\/20\/chinese-vlccs-pass-hormuz-as-tehran-washington-exchange-threats-of-renewed-attacks\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese VLCCs pass Hormuz as Tehran + Washington exchange threats of renewed attacks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two loaded Chinese oil tankers reportedly <\/strong>passed through<\/a><\/strong> the Strait of Hormuz today<\/strong>, after US Vice President JD Vance told reporters overnight<\/a> that Washington and Tehran have made \u201ca lot of progress\u201d in their talks to end the war. That sentiment, however, is being dampened by US President Donald Trump\u2019s threats to launch fresh attacks on Iran amid the impasse, with Iran\u2019s army spokesperson saying it is prepared to \u201copen new fronts against [the US], with new equipment and new methods.\u201d<\/p>\n

MEANWHILE- The Emirati Defense Ministry <\/strong>identified<\/a><\/strong> the source of the drones that hit the Barakah<\/strong> Nuclear Power Plant earlier this week<\/strong>, saying that \u2014 along with three others it has intercepted over the past two days \u2014 they came from Iraqi territory. It wasn\u2019t just us: Saudi Arabia\u2019s Defense Ministry also said earlier this week that it intercepted three drones entering the Kingdom from Iraqi airspace, without specifying what the drones were targeting or who launched them. <\/p>\n

Six more drones destroyed:<\/strong> Air defenses intercepted six drones that targeted \u201ccivilian and vital areas\u201d over the past two days, according to a statement<\/a> from the Defense Ministry. The statement did not specify the source of the attacks. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UAE confirms Barakah drone attacks originated from Iraq<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":115270,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_primary_brand":0,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2594],"tags":[2538,2790,2593],"brand":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"class_list":["post-115269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-war-watch","tag-enterpriseam","tag-us-iran-war","tag-war-watch","wpautop","entry"],"acf":{"mongo_id":"e13a3b49-16e6-4e8f-bc1f-06367f08babc","order":"4","is_powered_by":false,"story_type":"1","photo_url":"https:\/\/ent.news\/2026\/5\/1220.jpg","photo_position":"above","homepage_title":"","full_issue_title":"New 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