Iran swiftly reversed course on reopening the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, reimposing restrictions on the critical waterway after the US said it would not end its blockade of Iran-linked shipping.
Iran’s joint military command said that “control of the Strait of Hormuz has returned to its previous state … under strict management and control of the armed forces.”
It warned that it would continue to block transit through the strait as long as the US blockade of Iranian ports remained in effect.
Hours earlier, speaking to reporters US President Donald Trump had cited “some pretty good news” about Iran, declining to elaborate. But he also said fighting might resume without a peace deal by Wednesday, when a two-week ceasefire expires. On Friday evening, he had posted on Truth Social that “Iran has agreed to never close the Strait of Hormuz again.”
Iran’s announcement came after Trump said Friday that even though Tehran announced the strait’s reopening, the American blockade “will remain in full force” until Tehran reaches a deal with the US, including on its nuclear program.
The ongoing conflict over the strait has threatened to deepen the energy crisis roiling the global economy after oil prices began to fall again on Friday, on hopes that the US and Iran were drawing closer to an agreement.
Roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil passes through the strait and further limits would squeeze already constrained supply, driving prices higher once again.
Earlier Saturday, a convoy of oil tankers was observed crossing the Strait of Hormuz, the first major movement of ships in the crucial waterway since the US and Israel launched their war on the Iranian regime seven weeks ago.
The convoy was seen departing the Gulf and transiting the waterway, vessel-tracking data shows.
The group comprised four liquefied petroleum gas carriers and several oil product and chemical tankers, with more tankers following from the Gulf, according to MarineTraffic data.
Control over the strait has proven to be one of Iran’s main points of leverage and prompted the United States to deploy forces and initiate a blockade on Iranian ports as part of an effort to force Iran to accept a Pakistan-brokered ceasefire to end almost seven weeks of war that has raged between Israel, the US and Iran.
Iran said earlier this week that it fully reopened the Strait of Hormuz to commercial vessels after a 10-day truce was announced between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon.
An end to Israel’s war conflict with Hezbollah — reignited when the Lebanon-based terror group resumed rocket and drone attacks on Israel — was a key demand of Iranian negotiators, who previously accused Israel of breaking the ceasefire with strikes on Lebanon. Israel had said that the Iran truce did not cover Lebanon.
But after Trump said the blockade would continue, top Iranian officials said his announcement violated last week’s ceasefire agreement between Iran and the US and warned the strait would not stay open if the US blockade remained in effect.
A data firm, Kpler, said movement through the strait remained confined to corridors requiring Iran’s approval.
US forces have sent 21 ships back to Iran since the blockade began on Monday, US Central Command said on X.
Meanwhile, Trump on Saturday flatly rejected the idea of Iran imposing restrictions or tolls on the strait when asked by a reporter aboard Air Force One.
“Nope. No way. No. Nope,” Trump said. He said there can’t be tolls along with restrictions. “No, they’re not going to be tolls.”
Despite the escalation in the Strait of Hormuz, Pakistani officials say the United States and Iran are still moving closer to a deal ahead of the April 22 ceasefire deadline.
Even though mediators were optimistic, it was unclear to what extent Hezbollah would abide by a truce that it did not play a role in negotiating, and which would leave Israeli troops deployed in parts of southern Lebanon.
Trump said in another post that Israel is “prohibited” by the US from further strikes on Lebanon and that “enough is enough” in the Israel-Hezbollah war.
The US State Department said the prohibition applies only to offensive attacks and not to actions taken by Israel in self-defense.
Source:
www.timesofisrael.com
