Iran said Saturday it had reimposed the closure of the Strait of Hormuz less than a day after reopening it to maritime traffic, but President Donald Trump warned that Tehran cannot blackmail the United States by closing the waterway.
Two Iranian Revolutionary Guard gunboats opened fire on an oil tanker transiting the strait, the British military’s UK Maritime Trade Operations Center said. It said the tanker and its crew were safe, without identifying the vessel or its destination.
On Friday, Iran said The Strait of Hormuz is open to commercial vessels during a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, but confusion quickly emerged over whether the sea route was actually open without conditions.
Iranian state media said on Saturday that the strait has since been closed due to the United States’ inability to uphold its end of the bargain. Iran has accused the United States of being responsible for the current blockade of Iranian ports.
“Iran has agreed to allow a limited number of ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz in accordance with the agreements,” the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting Service (IRIB) said in a message on X.
“But the United States has not fulfilled its obligations. Thus, the Strait of Hormuz is closed again and its passage requires IRAN’s approval,” IRIB said.
Iranian state media also carried a statement from Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) spokesperson Lt. Col. Ebrahim Zolfaghari detailing the reimposition of restrictions on ships in the strait, MS Now reported.
Zolfaghari said “control of the Strait of Hormuz has returned to its previous state…under strict management and control of the armed forces.” He warned that Iran would continue to block transit through the strait as long as the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports remained in effect.
In Washington, Trump said negotiations between the United States and Iran were going well and that he hoped to have more information “by the end of the day.”
Trump made the comments during a White House event where he signed an executive order directing the Food and Drug Administration to expedite review of certain psychedelic drugs designed as a revolutionary therapy for mental illness.
Trump declined to answer reporters’ questions about Iran, but said, “We have some very good conversations going on.”
He said Iran “got a little cute,” later adding, “They wanted to close the strait again,” referring to the Strait of Hormuz.
“They can’t blackmail us,” Trump said.
Trump said Friday he likely would not extend the two-week ceasefire, which is scheduled to end Wednesday. US and Israeli forces launched an air campaign against Iranian targets on February 28. Trump agreed to the ceasefire on April 7 in exchange for Iran completely opening the strait.
“Maybe I won’t extend it, but the blockade is going to stay. But maybe I won’t extend it, so you have a blockade, and unfortunately we’ll have to start dropping bombs again,” Trump said.
Peace talks in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, between a US delegation led by the vice president J.D. Vance and Iranian negotiators led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf failed to reach an agreement last weekend.
Iran examines new proposals put forward by the United StatesIran’s Supreme National Security Council said in a statement that Pakistan’s army chief, acting as an intermediary, presented the proposals to Iran during his recent visit to Tehran and that they were still under consideration.
The content of the proposals has not been revealed.
The Council said Iran had not yet responded, but that further negotiations would require the United States to abandon “its excessive demands and adapt its demands to the realities on the ground.”
He also said Iran would maintain full control over traffic through the Strait of Hormuz until “the war is completely over and lasting peace is established in the region,” adding that it would collect detailed information on passing ships, issue transit certificates and impose tolls.
The Council added that it considered the US naval blockade a violation of the ceasefire and that the Strait of Hormuz would not reopen until it was lifted.
Confusion about HormuzIranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said on Friday social networks: “In accordance with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage of all commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of the ceasefire.”
However, ships must transit via a “coordinated route” announced by Iranian maritime authorities, Araghchi said. It is not yet clear whether Tehran will force ships to pay a toll to pass the strait.
Israel and Lebanon agreed on Thursday to a 10-day ceasefire starting at 5 p.m. ET that evening. Israel’s military campaign in Lebanon against the militant group Hezbollah, a close ally of Iran, poses another obstacle to negotiations between Washington and Tehran.
But confusion over the status of the strait has left ship operators in a state of uncertainty.
Video footage from a ship tracking company Kpler showed that several tankers and cargo ships attempted to leave the waterway Friday but turned back.
“They clearly have not been given clearance to pass,” Matt Smith, director of commodities research at Kpler, told CNBC.
Oil prices fell more than 10% on Friday to fall below 90 dollars per barrel. Before the war, about a fifth of the world’s crude supplies passed through the strait. The closure of the sea lane connecting the Persian Gulf to global energy markets has triggered the largest oil supply disruption in history.
Another major sticking point in the negotiations was the issue of recovering materials from Iran’s nuclear program. Trump told reporters on Air Force One that the United States “will join Iran and we will take it together, and we will bring it back 100 percent to the United States.”
“We will accept it after the agreement is signed,” he said.
Iran says it will not deliver enriched uranium to the United StatesTrump said on Friday that Iran had agreed to hand over its stockpile of enriched uranium, but Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh rejected the US president’s claims and warned about future negotiations between the two countries.
Speaking to the Associated Press in the Turkish city of Antalya, Khatibzadeh said the Iranians were not ready for a new round of face-to-face talks with the United States because the Americans “have not abandoned their maximalist position.”
On Friday, Trump said the United States would go to Iran and “collect all the nuclear dust,” referring to the 970 pounds (440 kilograms) of enriched uranium believed to be buried under nuclear sites badly damaged by U.S. military strikes last year.
— The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
