Iran said Saturday that it has reimposed the closure of the Strait of Hormuz less than a day after reopening it to shipping traffic, but President Donald Trump warned that Tehran could not blackmail the U.S. by shutting the waterway.
The strait is closed until the U.S. blockade is lifted, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard navy said, warning that “no vessel should make any movement from its anchorage in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, and approaching the Strait of Hormuz will be considered as cooperation with the enemy” and be targeted.
Two gunboats from the Revolutionary Guard opened fire on a tanker transiting the strait, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said. It reported the tanker and crew as safe, without identifying the vessel or its destination. Shipping sources told Reuters at least two other vessels reported coming under fire while trying to transit the waterway.
In Mumbai, India summoned Iran’s ambassador after an Indian-flagged vessel carrying crude oil was attacked while trying to cross the strait, Reuters reported.
The closing of the waterway comes after Iran declared on Friday that the strait is open to commercial ships during a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, but confusion quickly emerged about whether the sea lane was really open without conditions.
Iranian state media said on Saturday that the strait was closed due to the U.S. failing to hold up its end of the bargain. Iran blamed the U.S. for its ongoing blockade of Iranian ports.
“Iran agreed to allow a limited number of ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz according to agreements,” the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) service said in a post on X.
“But U.S. did not fulfill their obligations. So, the Strait of Hormuz is now closed again and passage requires IRAN approval,” IRIB said.
Iranian state media also aired a statement from Revolutionary Guard spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Ebrahim Zolfaghari detailing the reimposition of vessel restrictions on the strait, MS Now reported.
Zolfaghari said that “control of the Strait of Hormuz has returned to its previous state … under strict management and control of the armed forces.” He warned that Iran would continue to block transit through the strait as long as a U.S. blockade of Iranian ports remained in effect.