TEHRAN, April 18 — Iran has warned that it will close the Strait of Hormuz again if the United States (US) blockade of Iranian ports continues, reported German Press Agency (dpa).
“With the continuation of the blockade, the Strait of Hormuz will not remain open,” Iranian parliamentary speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf wrote on the social media platform X early on Saturday.
He added that transit through the waterway, which is vital for the global oil and gas market, would take place along a “designated route” and with “Iranian authorisation.”
After weeks of a blockade due to the US-Israeli strikes against Iran, the leadership in Tehran on Friday said that oil tankers and commercial vessels could again pass through the Strait of Hormuz during the ceasefire.
US President Donald Trump also announced the reopening of the strait, but said the US would maintain its own naval blockade, which applies only to ships coming to and from Iran.
Trump’s post on his Truth Social network that the US blockade would remain “until the full conclusion of our agreements with Iran” caused outrage in Tehran.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei also warned the US. According to the Tasnim news agency, he said the naval blockade amounted to a violation of the ceasefire and would prompt an appropriate response from Iran.
Ghalibaf wrote that whether the strait was open or closed, and the regulations governing it, would be determined on the ground, “not by social media.”
