Iran Closes Strait of Hormuz Again as Ceasefire Deadline Grows Closer

Less than a day after it was opened by Iran, the crucial Strait of Hormuz was closed again by Saturday lunchtime, with Tehran accusing Washington of ‘acts of maritime piracy’, ITV News’ Sam Holder reports

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• Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz again, in response to the United States’ continued blocked of Iranian ports
• Multiple ships reported that they had been attacked by Iranian forces as they attempted to transit the vital waterway
• Iran’s deputy foreign minister said the country is not yet ready to hold face-to-face talks with the US, an official told AP.
• Trump maintains there are “good conversations” between the US and Iran
• The latest developments come as the fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran is due the expire on Wednesday
• Meanwhile, questions over the supposed truce between Israel and Lebanon remain, as President Macron says a French peacekeeper has been killed during fighting

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The stand-off over the Strait of Hormuz escalated again on Saturday, as Iran reversed its reopening of the crucial waterway and fired on ships attempting to pass.

The move came after the US said it would not end its blockade of the Islamic Republic’s ports.

New attacks on the Strait threatened to deepen the global energy crisis and push the countries into renewed conflict, as multiple ships attempting to transit the Strait reported attacks.

It comes as the fragile ceasefire deal between the US and Iran is due to expire by Wednesday. Iran’s deputy foreign minister said the country was not yet ready for a new round of face-to-face talks with Washington.

Multiple ships report attacks after Iran re-closes vital waterway

Iran’s joint military command said on Saturday that “control of the Strait of Hormuz has returned to its previous state… under strict management and control of the armed forces”.

It warned that it would continue to block transit through the strait as long as the US blockade of Iranian ports remained in effect.

Multiple ships reported attacks as they attempted to transit the Strait on Saturday, with the UK military saying Iranian gunboats had open fired on a tanker.Multiple ships reported attacks while attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday. Credit: AP

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre said the tanker and crew were reported safe, without identifying the vessel or its destination.

They also said a container ship had been hit “by an unknown projectile which caused damage to some of the containers”.

Two Indian-flagged ships were also involved in a “shooting incident” in the Strait earlier Saturday, India’s foreign ministry said.

Iran’s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, issued defiant remarks on Saturday, saying the navy stands “ready to inflict bitter defeats on its enemies.”

Less than 24 hours earlier, the country had announced the Strait’s reopening to commercial vessels, after a 10-day truce was announced between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon. The reopening caused oil prices to fall.

Trump, however, said the US blockade of Iran’s ports will “remain in full force” until Tehran reaches a deal with America. Trump had imposed the blockade after a round of face-to-face talks in Pakistan between the countries ended without agreement.

Iran’s deputy foreign minister warns against US “maximalist” demands

Iran is not yet ready to hold a new round of face-to-face talks with the US, due to Washington’s “maximalist” demands, a senior Iranian official said on Saturday.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh told AP that although there had been messages exchanged between his country and the United States, no meeting was yet organised, even as the countries reach the expiry of their two-week ceasefire on April 22.

“We are still not there yet to move on to an actual meeting because there are issues that the Americans have not yet abandoned their maximalist position,” Khatibzadeh said.

Iran was seeking the finalisation of a “framework agreement” before moving to an in-person meeting, he added.

The Iranian official would not go into specifics of the negotiations with the United States or say which issues remain unresolved but called on Washington to address Iran’s concerns, including sanctions imposed on Iran.

Trump warns Iran against “blackmailing” US

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has said there are “very good conversations going on” between the US and Iran, but warned them against “blackmailing us”, adding, “they got a little cute.”

As recently as Friday, Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said that in line with a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon, the Strait of Hormuz was “completely open” for all commercial vessels.A map of the region. Credit: iStock

Speaking at an event that evening, Trump said said that while the strait was “fully open and ready for full passage”, the US would “have to finish the deal before we open it for Iran”.

This appeared to present a red line for Tehran, with top Iranian officials claiming the US blockade violated a fragile ceasefire agreement between the two countries.

Early on Saturday, Iran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf posted on X that if the US blockade continued “the Strait of Hormuz will not remain open”.

Asked by a reporter on Friday night what he will do if there’s no deal when a ceasefire with Iran expires next week, Trump said: “I don’t know. Maybe I won’t extend it, but the blockade is going to remain.

“But maybe I won’t extend it, so you’ll have a blockade and unfortunately we’ll have to start dropping bombs again.”

However, Trump also told reporters accompanying him aboard Air Force One to Washington that, “I think it’s going to happen,” referring to a deal.

Despite the escalation in the Strait of Hormuz, officials in Pakistan, who helped broker the current truce, say the United States and Iran are still moving closer to a deal ahead of the April 22 ceasefire deadline.

Speaking at a diplomatic forum in Antalya, Turkey, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said the separate ceasefire in Lebanon was a positive sign.

He noted that fighting between Israel and Hezbollah had been a key sticking point before talks in Islamabad ended “very close” to an agreement last weekend.

Pakistan is expected to host a second round of talks between Iran and the US early next week.US President Donald Trump announced the blockade after nuclear talks between America and Iran broke down Credit: Alex Brandon/AP

Questions remain over Lebanon truce

The US and Iran are in the middle of a fragile truce which is due to last until April 22, while Israel and Lebanon have begun a 10-day ceasefire.

While mediators have been optimistic, it is unclear to what extent Hezbollah will abide by the truce between the Lebanese and Israeli governments.

The militant group did not play a role in ceasefire talks and has previously said it would not recognise the legitimacy of the negotiations, which have allowed Israel to continue occupying a stretch of southern Lebanon.

Trump said in another post that Israel is “prohibited” by the US from further strikes on Lebanon and that “enough is enough” in the Israel-Hezbollah war.

The State Department said the prohibition applies only to offensive attacks and not to actions taken in self-defence.An ambulance belonging to Hezbollah’s health unit lies amid the rubble of an Israeli airstrike in Jibchit, southern Lebanon on Friday. Credit: AP

On Saturday, French President Emmanuel Macron says a French soldier was killed and three others wounded in an attack on U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon.

Both Macron and the UNIFIL force blamed Hezbollah, but the militant group denied involvement.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said Israel agreed to the ceasefire in Lebanon “at the request of my friend President Trump,” but that the campaign against Hezbollah is not complete.

He claimed Israel had destroyed about 90% of Hezbollah’s missile and rocket stockpiles and added that Israeli forces “have not finished yet” with the dismantling of the group.

In Beirut, displaced families began moving toward southern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs despite warnings by officials not to return to their homes until it became clear whether the ceasefire would hold.

The Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon reported sporadic artillery shelling in some parts of southern Lebanon in the hours after the ceasefire took effect.

The war, which began with US and Israeli strikes on February 28 has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, more than 2,290 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Meanwhile 13 US service members have been killed.

Source: www.itv.com