In a rapid policy shift, Iran has reinstated limitations on the Strait of Hormuz, a key maritime passage, just a day after retracting them. This decision follows the United States’ announcement to maintain its blockade on vessels linked to Iran.
On Saturday, Iran’s joint military command declared, “The control of the Strait of Hormuz has reverted to its prior state, now under the stringent oversight of our armed forces.”
The military further stated that restrictions on the strait’s passage would persist as long as the U.S. blockade affecting Iranian ports continues.
This development occurred shortly after President Donald Trump emphasized that the American blockade, despite Iran’s announcement of the strait’s reopening on Friday, would “remain fully enforced” until Tehran agrees to a deal addressing issues such as its nuclear program.
The tensions surrounding this strategic chokepoint are poised to exacerbate the global energy crisis, especially as oil prices, which had been declining in anticipation of a potential U.S.-Iran agreement, face renewed uncertainty.
With approximately 20% of the world’s oil traversing the Strait of Hormuz, any further restrictions could severely strain supply, leading to another surge in oil prices.
Control over the strait has proven to be one 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 it fully reopened the Strait of Hormuz to commercial vessels after a 10-day truce was announced between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon.
An end to Israel’s war with Hezbollah was a key demand of Iranian negotiators, who previously accused Israel of breaking last week’s ceasefire with strikes on Lebanon.
Israel had said that deal 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.
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Pakistan announces progress toward new deal
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.
The ceasefire in Lebanon could clear one major obstacle to an agreement. Speaking at a diplomatic forum in Antalya, Turkey, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said the ceasefire in Lebanon was a positive sign, noting that fighting between Israel and Hezbollah had been a key sticking point before talks in Islamabad ended “very close” to an agreement last weekend.
Pakistan’s army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir visited Tehran, while Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in Antalya, the military and Sharif’s office said.
Pakistan is expected to host a second round of talks between Iran and the US early next week.
Questions linger about Lebanon truce
Even though mediators were optimistic, it was unclear to what extent Hezbollah would abide by a truce it did not play a role in negotiating and which will leave Israeli troops occupying a stretch 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 State Department said the prohibition applies only to offensive attacks and not to actions taken in self-defense.
Shortly before Trump’s post, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel agreed to the ceasefire in Lebanon “at the request of my friend President Trump,” but that the campaign against Hezbollah is not complete.
He claimed Israel had destroyed about 90% of Hezbollah’s missile and rocket stockpiles and added that Israeli forces “have not finished yet” with the dismantling of the group.
In Beirut, displaced families began moving toward southern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs despite warnings by officials not to return to their homes until it became clear whether the ceasefire would hold.
The Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon reported sporadic artillery shelling in some parts of southern Lebanon in the hours after the ceasefire took effect.
The war, which began with US and Israeli strikes on Feb. 28, has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, more than 2,290 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states.
Thirteen US service members have also been killed.
