Iran closes Strait of Hormuz amid ceasefire dispute with United States

Tehran reversed decision to reopen strategic waterway after Washington refused to lift naval blockade of Iranian ports.

Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, reversing its announcement a day earlier that the strategic waterway would reopen for commercial shipping during a ceasefire period, after the United States refused to end its blockade of Iranian ports²³⁶.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said the strait would remain closed until Washington lifted its blockade, which has been in place since 13 April¹⁰¹⁴. Iranian gunboats fired on at least two vessels attempting to pass through the waterway on Saturday, and shipping data showed no movement through the strait by Sunday⁴⁶⁸.

US President Donald Trump accused Iran on Sunday of a "total violation" of the ceasefire agreement and threatened to destroy Iranian power plants and bridges unless Tehran accepted his terms⁵⁶⁷. Trump said US envoys would arrive in Pakistan on Monday evening for further negotiations⁵⁶⁷.

Iran's state news agency IRNA reported that Tehran had rejected the proposed talks, citing "excessive demands, unrealistic expectations, constant shifts in stance, repeated contradictions, and the ongoing naval blockade"⁹. However, Trump later announced that US forces had seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship, the Touska, in the Gulf of Oman after its crew refused orders to stop¹⁰¹¹.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi had announced on Friday that the strait would be open to commercial vessels during the remainder of a 10-day truce between Israel and Hezbollah agreed in Lebanon²³. Iran's chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said the US naval blockade of Iranian ports was "a clumsy and ignorant decision"¹⁶.

The conflict between the US, Israel and Iran began on 28 February and has killed thousands¹³. The Strait of Hormuz, through which approximately one-fifth of the world's oil normally transits, has been effectively closed since the war began, creating what sources described as the most severe shock to global energy supplies in history³⁸. Oil prices rose more than 7 percent on Monday following the latest developments¹².

The current two-week ceasefire is scheduled to expire on 22 April unless extended¹⁵.