Day 138 brief — the blockade bites and the toll dies: US Navy turns back a Chinese tanker, Trump drops the 20% Hormuz fee, and Iran answers a fourth strike night on Gulf bases

Day 138 is the day the blockade stopped being a threat and became a fact — and the toll that shadowed it collapsed. From 20:00 GMT the US Navy began enforcing its blockade of Iran's ports and coastline, and within hours it was biting: warships turned back roughly 21 vessels in the Arabian Sea, intercepted and reversed a US-sanctioned Chinese tanker, and ordered two tankers out of Chabahar to turn around — though at least one other Chinese hull still slipped through, marking the cordon real but porous (Newsweek, Army Recognition, The Hill). The carve-outs matter: transit to non-Iranian destinations is not impeded and humanitarian cargo is allowed subject to inspection, making the blockade narrower than Monday's 'seal everything' framing (NPR, CNN). In a 24-hour reversal, Trump abandoned the 20% Hormuz toll he had declared a day earlier — Gulf states will 'invest in the US' instead — after Rubio and the UN's IMO called transit fees illegal (CNBC, CNN, Al Jazeera). But the kinetic line still rose: CENTCOM struck Iran a fourth straight night, and the IRGC answered with a fresh salvo on Sheikh Isa air base in Bahrain and Ali al-Salem in Kuwait, damaging drones and depots (Newsweek, Press TV). Brent settled $84.73, up 1.72%, after touching $87 intraday — its first $87 print since June, the week up over 10% — with the toll climbdown capping the spike (CNBC, OilPrice). India summoned Iran's envoy over the tanker attacks; Araghchi said Tehran is working Oman, Qatar and Pakistan to de-escalate. Thirty-day ceasefire probability holds at 12 — the first genuinely two-sided day in a week.