Iran reimposed restrictions on vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz, barely 24 hours after reopening the critical shipping route. The move follows renewed friction with the United States over a naval blockade announced earlier in the week. A spokesman for Iran’s Khatam al-Anbia central headquarters accused Washington of continuing……
Iran reimposed restrictions on vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz, barely 24 hours after reopening the critical shipping route.
The move follows renewed friction with the United States over a naval blockade announced earlier in the week.
A spokesman for Iran’s Khatam al-Anbia central headquarters accused Washington of continuing acts of “piracy” and “sea robbery” under the guise of enforcing a blockade.
The development came after Donald Trump declared that the US naval blockade would remain in force “until such time as our transaction with Iran is 100% complete,” despite Tehran’s earlier decision to reopen the passage.
In a statement on Saturday, an Iranian military spokesman said the continued US action forced a reversal of that decision.
On Friday, Tehran had declared the strait, which usually carries a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas, open after a ceasefire was agreed in Lebanon to halt Israel’s war with Hezbollah.
This prompted elation in global markets and sent oil prices plunging, with Trump insisting that a US naval blockade of Iranian ports would continue until a deal was concluded, Tehran threatened to shutter the strait once more.
Then, later on Saturday morning, Iran’s central military command said that, in response to the US blockade “control over the Strait of Hormuz has been returned to its previous state, and this strategic waterway is under strict management and control by the Armed Forces,” the spokesman said.
He added that the restrictions would remain in place until the US lifts measures affecting the free movement of vessels to and from Iran.