Iran says the vital Strait of Hormuz will stay shut until the US lifts its naval blockade on Iranian ports, dashing hopes for a swift reopening
TEHRAN: The crucial Strait of Hormuz will not reopen until the United States lifts its naval blockade on Iranian ports, a top Iranian official said.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of the Iranian parliament, stated there has been “progress” in talks with Washington but warned a final peace deal remains “far” off.
“If America does not lift the blockade, traffic in the Strait of Hormuz will definitely be limited,” Ghalibaf said in a televised address.
His comments came after Tehran briefly reopened the strait, which usually carries a fifth of the world’s oil and LNG, following a ceasefire in Lebanon.
This prompted a plunge in global oil prices, but the US insisted its blockade would continue until a wider deal is struck.
US President Donald Trump accused Iran of getting “a little cute” with its recent moves and warned Tehran not to try to “blackmail” Washington.
“We have very good conversations going on,” Trump said, adding that the United States was “taking a tough stand.”
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warned that any attempt to pass through the strait without permission would see the offending vessel “targeted.”
A handful of tankers crossed during the brief reopening, but tracking data showed hardly any vessels using the waterway by late afternoon.
A UK maritime security agency said the Guards fired at one tanker, while another report cited a vessel being hit by an unknown projectile.
The Indian foreign ministry said it summoned Iran’s ambassador to protest a “shooting incident” involving two Indian-flagged ships.
On the diplomatic front, Egypt expressed optimism that a final agreement could be secured “in the coming days.”
Two major sticking points remain Iran’s stockpile of near-weapons-grade enriched uranium and the future of the strait.
Trump declared that Iran had agreed to hand over its roughly 440 kilograms of enriched uranium.
Iran’s foreign ministry countered that surrendering the stockpile “to the US has never been raised in negotiations.”
The conflict began with surprise US-Israeli attacks on Iran and rapidly spread across the region.
A French soldier was killed and three others wounded in an ambush on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the attack, which an initial UN assessment found was carried out by Hezbollah.
