Iran closes Strait of Hormuz after reported gunfire on vessels

Tehran reversed its Friday reopening of the strategic waterway, citing continued US blockade of Iranian ports.

Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, hours after reopening the strategic waterway through which 20 percent of globally traded oil transits, citing a continued US blockade of its ports.²⁴ The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a statement that the US blockade represented "acts of piracy and maritime theft" and that the strait would remain under "strict management and control of the armed forces" until Washington restores freedom of navigation for Iranian vessels.²

At least two ships reported being fired upon while approaching the strait on Saturday, and shipping data since then has shown no movement through the waterway.¹ Video footage showed Iranian military forces ordering an Indian ship to abort its passage of the strait.⁸ The IRGC warned that any vessel attempting to pass through without permission "will be considered cooperation with the enemy, and the offending vessel will be targeted."³⁴

US President Donald Trump accused Iran on Sunday of a "total violation" of the two countries' ceasefire for firing on ships near the strait.¹ Trump threatened on social media to "knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran" unless Tehran accepted his terms, writing "NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!"¹ He announced that US envoys would arrive in Pakistan on Monday evening for renewed talks, the first official confirmation that negotiations would resume after a first round held a week ago ended without breakthrough.¹

Iran had announced on Friday it would reopen the strait following a US-mediated 10-day ceasefire deal between Israel and Lebanon, with more than a dozen commercial ships passing through the waterway.² The country reversed that decision a day later after Trump refused to halt the US blockade of Iranian shipping.¹

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran's parliament speaker and senior negotiator in talks with Washington, said in a television interview that "the Strait of Hormuz is under the control of the Islamic Republic."⁴ Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh said no date had been set for a new round of face-to-face talks with the US.⁷ The current two-week ceasefire will expire on Wednesday unless extended.³