{"id":73189,"date":"2026-10-18T05:08:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-18T09:08:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/geopolitical-tensions-escalate-as-trump-waives-russia-sanctions-and-gulf-shipping-faces-new-attacks\/73189\/"},"modified":"2026-10-18T05:08:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-18T09:08:15","slug":"geopolitical-tensions-escalate-as-trump-waives-russia-sanctions-and-gulf-shipping-faces-new-attacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/geopolitical-tensions-escalate-as-trump-waives-russia-sanctions-and-gulf-shipping-faces-new-attacks\/73189\/","title":{"rendered":"Geopolitical Tensions Escalate as Trump Waives Russia Sanctions and Gulf Shipping Faces New Attacks"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>President Donald Trump<\/strong> has signed an executive order indefinitely waiving a sweeping new package of <strong>Russia sanctions<\/strong>, sparking bipartisan outrage in Congress and impacting global energy diplomacy.<\/li>\n<li>A southbound tugboat was struck by <strong>two unidentified projectiles<\/strong> northeast of <strong>Khor Fakkan, UAE<\/strong>, resulting in one minor casualty and heightening maritime security risks in the Gulf.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Australian home prices<\/strong> are projected to fall by up to <strong>11%<\/strong> from their March peak, marking the largest downturn in 40 years driven by interest rate hikes and tax reforms.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Iran&#39;s parliament<\/strong> has approved <strong>Mehrdad Akhlaghi<\/strong> as the new defense minister with an overwhelming 237-15 vote, as the nation prepares a new &quot;operational plan&quot; for potential renewed attacks.<\/li>\n<li>Vice President <strong>JD Vance<\/strong> warned that US gasoline prices would be <strong>three times higher<\/strong> if the <strong>United States Navy<\/strong> were not actively securing the <strong>Strait of Hormuz<\/strong> against Iranian interference.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Trump Waives Russia Sanctions Amid Congressional Backlash<\/h2>\n<p>President <strong>Donald Trump<\/strong> has issued an executive order to put a hold on a bipartisan sanctions package targeting the <strong>Russian economy<\/strong>, citing national interest. The waiver, signed just days before the measures were set to take effect on <strong>October 18, 2026<\/strong>, affects the <em>Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act<\/em>. The act would have imposed <strong>500% tariffs<\/strong> on Russian goods and <strong>100% tariffs<\/strong> on major buyers of Russian <a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/energy\/crude-oil\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"12\" title=\"Crude oil\">crude oil<\/a>, such as China and India.<\/p>\n<p>Lawmakers from both parties have blasted the decision, arguing it undermines support for <strong>Ukraine<\/strong> and rewards Moscow. The move follows a recent &quot;diesel deal&quot; between Trump and Vladimir Putin aimed at curbing high US energy prices. While existing sanctions remain in place, the waiver blocks additional economic pressure that Congress intended to exert to restrict funds for Russia\u2019s ongoing military operations.<\/p>\n<h2>Maritime Security Risks Rise in the Gulf<\/h2>\n<p>The <strong>United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO)<\/strong> reported a serious security incident on Sunday involving a southbound tugboat northeast of <strong>Khor Fakkan, UAE<\/strong>. The vessel was struck by <strong>two unknown projectiles<\/strong>, causing damage and one minor injury. Despite the strike, the tug remained operational and continued its route while authorities launched an investigation into the source of the attack.<\/p>\n<p>This incident coincides with a separate report of armed men firing on an <strong>LNG tanker<\/strong> off the coast of <strong>Yemen<\/strong>. These developments have kept shipping traffic through the <strong>Strait of Hormuz<\/strong> approximately <strong>70% below pre-war levels<\/strong>. Vice President <strong>JD Vance<\/strong> emphasized the critical role of the <strong>US Navy<\/strong> in maintaining these lanes, stating that without American intervention, global energy supplies would be &quot;choked off,&quot; leading to a tripling of fuel costs for consumers.<\/p>\n<h2>Iran Appoints New Defense Chief and Signals Military Readiness<\/h2>\n<p>In a decisive move, the Iranian parliament confirmed <strong>Mehrdad Akhlaghi<\/strong> as the new Minister of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics. Akhlaghi, a veteran of Iran&#39;s missile and aerospace industries, replaces his predecessor who was killed in the opening strikes of the current conflict in February. His appointment comes as <strong>Mohsen Rezaei<\/strong>, secretary of the <strong>Supreme National Security Council<\/strong>, announced that the armed forces have finalized a new operational plan to respond to any further aggression from the US or Israel.<\/p>\n<h2>Australian Housing Market Faces Historic Slump<\/h2>\n<p>The Australian residential property market is experiencing a significant &quot;tailspin,&quot; with national prices already down <strong>5.2%<\/strong> from their March peak. Experts from the <strong>Australian Property Institute<\/strong> and <strong>Westpac<\/strong> (<a href=\"\/stock\/WBK\">WBK<\/a>) forecast total declines of <strong>8% to 11%<\/strong>, potentially returning values in Sydney and Melbourne to 2021 levels. The downturn is attributed to the <strong>Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA)<\/strong> raising interest rates to a 15-year high of <strong>4.6%<\/strong> and recent federal budget changes that removed negative gearing for established investment properties.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways President Donald Trump has signed an executive order indefinitely waiving a sweeping new package of Russia sanctions, sparking [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"rank_math_schema_Article":[],"rank_math_focus_keyword":[],"rank_math_description":[],"financial_data_references":[],"stock_symbols_mentioned":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[5012],"tags":[6135,3872,9692,4457,13401,4664,5126,5196,5213,5391,5687,5688],"class_list":["post-73189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","tag-uae","tag-rba","tag-ukmto","tag-oil-prices","tag-us-navy","tag-iran","tag-australia","tag-russia","tag-sanctions","tag-real-estate","tag-xom-stock-xom","tag-cvx-stock-cvx"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73189"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73189\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}