It is hard to predict what lies ahead for Iran and its shipping industry.

Shipping has felt the effect of the strict sanctions regime imposed by the US after the Trump administration unilaterally withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018.

Soon after Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration in January 2017, short-lived national security advisor Michael Flynn said the new administration was “officially putting Iran on notice” for its alleged catalogue of destabilising activities throughout the Middle East.