Iran warns of fresh Hormuz closure as US blockade tensions escalate again

Iran has threatened to shut the Strait of Hormuz once again if the US blockade of its ports remains. Tehran threatened on Saturday to shut the Strait of Hormuz once more if the United States continues its blockade of Iranian ports, hours after Iran announced it had reopened the strategic waterway in the wake of a ceasefire in Lebanon. The potential for the resumption of transit had lifted stock markets on Friday and prompted optimism from Washington, with President Donald Trump telling AFP a broader US-Iran peace deal was “very close” and saying Tehran had agreed to hand over its enriched uranium — a key sticking point in negotiations.

“We’re going to get it by going in with Iran, with lots of excavators,” Trump said at an event in Arizona. Iran, however, pushed back on the claim, saying its stockpile of enriched uranium was not going anywhere. It also warned that if US warships intercepted vessels coming from Iranian ports, the Strait of Hormuz — a key global trade artery through which about a fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas typically passes — could be closed again.

The price of Brent Crude oil hovered around the $92 mark on Saturday morning after settling around the $90 mark on Friday following news that the Strait had been opened. “With the continuation of the blockade, the Strait of Hormuz will not remain open,” parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf wrote on X, adding that passage through the waterway would require authorisation from Iran. “What they call a naval blockade will definitely be met with an appropriate response from Iran,” said Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei, calling the naval blockade “a violation of the ceasefire” it struck with Washington for a fortnight to enable talks. US forces have so far directed 21 ships to turn around since the blockade began this week, the US Central Command posted on X overnight, accompanied by an image of an American guided-missile destroyer patrolling the Arabian Sea.