Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, less than 24 hours after reopening the strategic waterway, citing a continued US naval blockade of Iranian ports as justification¹³. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned that vessels attempting to pass through the strait without permission would be targeted²³.

The IRGC described the US blockade as "acts of piracy and maritime theft" and said the strait remained "under the strict management and control of the armed forces"¹. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran's parliament speaker and a senior negotiator in ongoing talks with Washington, said in a television interview that "the Strait of Hormuz is under the control of the Islamic Republic"³.

Reports indicated Iranian gunboats fired at a merchant vessel as it attempted to cross the waterway¹. Video footage showed Iran's military ordering an Indian ship to abort its passage of the strait⁴. The IRGC stated that approaching the strait would be "considered cooperation with the enemy"³.

The closure came hours after more than a dozen commercial ships passed through the strait following a US-mediated 10-day ceasefire deal between Israel and Lebanon¹. Approximately 20 percent of globally traded oil transits through the waterway¹.

The current two-week ceasefire is set to expire on Wednesday unless extended². Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said US President Donald Trump had no justification to deprive Iran of its nuclear rights, according to the Iranian Students' News Agency, as the two countries continued to face disagreements over nuclear issues².

Ghalibaf indicated that a conclusive peace agreement remained "far" away despite some progress in talks². High-level discussions in Pakistan had failed to produce an accord².