“With the continuation of the blockade, the Strait of Hormuz will not remain open.” Iranian parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf wrote that on X on Saturday. He added that any passage through the waterway would need Iran’s authorization.
The warning came only hours after the strait reopened following a ceasefire deal in Lebanon. Tehran said it could close the passage again if US warships stop vessels coming from Iranian ports. Roughly a fifth of the world’s crude oil and liquefied natural gas normally moves through the strait.
Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei was blunter about who decides. “The opening and closing of the Strait of Hormuz, does not take place on internet, it is determined in the field, and our armed forces certainly know how to behave in response to any action by the other side,” he said. He called a naval blockade “a violation of the ceasefire” and said Iran “will definitely take the necessary measures.”
Trump says a deal is close
Washington struck a very different tone. President Donald Trump told AFP that a peace deal was “very close” and that there were “no sticking points at all” left with Tehran. He said Iran had agreed to hand over its enriched uranium, a major sticking point in the talks. Speaking to a Turning Point USA gathering in Phoenix, Arizona, he said: “We’re going to get it by going in with Iran, with lots of excavators.”
Iran rejected that. Its stockpile of enriched uranium, officials said, was not going anywhere.
Trump had spent the day posting about what he called a “GREAT AND BRILLIANT” turn of events. He praised mediator Pakistan and Gulf allies, and he told NATO to “STAY AWAY” after turning down the alliance’s offer to help secure the strait.
Markets and Lebanon
Oil prices were already sliding on hopes of a negotiated end to the conflict, and the fall sped up on Friday as stocks rose. Late that day the US issued another waiver allowing the sale of Russian oil and petroleum products already at sea, which adds to supply.
In Lebanon, displaced families used the 10-day truce to head back to bomb-damaged south Beirut and the south of the country. “Our feelings are indescribable, pride and victory,” said 37-year-old Amani Atrash, who hoped the ceasefire would be extended. Trump said Washington had “prohibited” Israel from further strikes.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “We have not yet finished the job,” and named the “dismantling of Hezbollah” as a key aim. Israel warned that military action could resume if Hezbollah fighters are not cleared from the area between the security zone and the Litani River. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said his country would no longer serve as an arena for outside conflicts. Hezbollah said it stood ready to answer any Israeli violation.
Sources
Sources
- Iran threatens to close Hormuz anew, if US blockade continues
- 2026 United States naval blockade of Iran – Wikipedia
