Iran’s military announced Saturday that it was closing the Strait of Hormuz, citing a continued American blockade, leaving the status of access to a vital waterway unclear a day after President Donald Trump and the country declared it open. Two ships reported attacks while attempting to cross the strait, underscoring the fragility of the ceasefire amid diplomatic efforts to end the war.
Trump told reporters Saturday that the United States remained engaged in “very good conversations” with Iran and acknowledged that Tehran “wanted to close up the strait again.”
“They can’t blackmail us,” Trump said of Iran, adding that he would have more information on the talks with Tehran “by end of day.”
Two gunboats affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps opened fire on a tanker about 20 nautical miles northeast of Oman Saturday morning, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center (UKMTO), a monitoring agency that is part of the British Royal Navy. The agency said all crew members were reported safe.
The incident was also reported by ship tracking firm TankerTrackers.com, which said a crew member aboard the tanker radioed Iran’s military for help as it was under attack. In the distress call, the crew member claims the tanker had been given permission to cross the strait and asks Iran to allow the tanker to turn back, according to the report.
India’s External Affairs Ministry released a statementsaying it had summoned Iran’s ambassador in New Delhi on Saturday night, conveying concerns over what the ministry called “a shooting incident” involving two Indian-flagged ships in the strait. India’s foreign secretary, the statement said, urged Iran’s ambassador to resume allowing India-bound ships across the strait.
UKMTO reported that a container ship was hit by an unknown projectile, causing damage to some of the containers. There were no files or environmental impact reported, and authorities are investigating the incident.
Separately, a cruise ship reported seeing a nearby splash, according to UKMTO.
Announcements on Friday that the strait was open, which came separately from Trump and Iran, appeared to signal progress in talks between U.S. and Iranian negotiators toward ending the war — and rallied markets and brought an immediate drop in oil prices.
The U.S. will continue its naval blockade of Iranian ports until there is a peace deal with Iran, Trump said. But on Saturday, Iran accused the U.S. of “banditry and piracy under the guise of a so-called blockade.”
“Until the United States ends its interference with the full freedom of movement for vessels traveling to and from Iran, the status of the Strait of Hormuz will remain under intense control and in its previous state,” said the statement published on Iran’s semiofficial Fars media outlet.
Before the war, around one-fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas supplies passed through the Strait of Hormuz and disruption to critical energy supplies has seen oil prices soar and markets roiled.
The Trump administration has attempted to respond to Iran’s closure of the strait by increasing the economic pressure on Tehran with a U.S. blockade. Since the blockade took effect Monday, U.S. forces have turned back 21 ships, Centcom said Friday.
Earlier, a temporary ceasefire went into effect in Lebanon, another development that appeared to signal diplomatic progress. The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, backed by Iran, and Israel halted attacks in line with an agreement that was negotiated between the government of Lebanon and Israel. After the truce went into effect, thousands of Lebanese civilians began to return to their homes in the country’s south.
Israel Defense Forces claimed in a statement Saturday that it had identified several incidents it considered ceasefire violations in southern Lebanon, warning that the “IDF is authorized to take the necessary measures in self-defense against threats, while ensuring the security of Israeli civilians and the soldiers deployed in the area.”
And French President Emmanuel Macron saidSaturday that a United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon soldier was killed in southern Lebanon and that Hezbollah was probably responsible — something that Hezbollah has denied.
After the U.S. and Israel launched the war, Iran mined parts of the critical waterway and attacked tankers in the area. The moves spooked shipping companies and for weeks traffic plummeted over 90 percent to a near halt, according to ship tracking data. Before the war, roughly 100 ships would pass through every day.
Later in the war, Tehran began giving a handful of tankers permission to cross, but required them to use a specific route along its coastline and pay a toll.
Suzan Haidamous in Beirut, Lior Soroka in Tel Aviv and Maegan Vazquez in Washington contributed to this report.
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