Energy trade flows are rerouted as the Strait of Hormuz remains mostly closed in International Shipping News 16/05/2026 No country has ever profited from protracted warfare,” the great Chinese military theorist known as Sun Tzu wrote around the 5th century BCE. It is a warning that may resonate in Washington today. By today’s standards, the latest conflict in the Middle East has not been going on for a particularly long time. It began only 10 weeks ago. But it has already outlasted President Donald Trump’s suggestion in the early days of the campaign that it was intended to take four to five weeks. The ceasefire that was agreed on 8 April has officially continued, although punctuated by sporadic attacks on shipping and land installations from both sides. But no lasting peace deal has been reached, and over the weekend hopes for such a deal appeared to recede. The US last week sent Iran a proposal for a peace agreement that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Other key items in the plan covered issues such as uranium enrichment, sanctions on Iran’s trade and financial flows, and releasing frozen Iranian assets held at international banks. On Sunday, Iran submitted its response, refusing to accept some of the key conditions sought by the US. President Trump described the response as “totally unacceptable”, without giving any details about the specific points of difference between the two sides. Iranian sources said their response, submitted through Pakistani mediators, included an end to hostilities around the region, lifting sanctions, a deal over the country’s nuclear programme, and reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Traffic through the strait has been subject to a dual blockade, with the US Navy stopping vessels moving to or from Iranian ports, and most other shipping deterred from attempting a transit by the threat of attacks. In a social media post on Sunday afternoon, President Trump appeared to hint at resuming US strikes on Iran. He wrote that the country had been