Iran says Strait of Hormuz is closed, claims it struck vessel using ‘unauthorised route’

Iran declared the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed again after warning fire targeted a vessel using an unauthorised route, escalating tensions despite a fragile US ceasefire. Tehran accused Washington of violating the interim deal as both sides exchanged fresh threats and accusations 

Dubai: Iran said it considers the Strait of Hormuz closed once again after a vessel using an unauthorised route was struck by a warning shot in the critical waterway, further jeopardising the already tenuous ceasefire agreement with the United States.

The White House and US military officials offered no immediate comment on the closure, nor did they say whether American retaliation could be coming.

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The announcement followed Iran and Oman’s foreign ministers meeting on Saturday to discuss the strait that lies between them, after days of Iranian attacks on ships and U.S. retaliation that dealt a blow to the interim deal to end the war.

Iran’s new supreme leader, still unseen since the war began, vowed in his first statement since the funeral of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that Iranians would avenge his killing in the war’s opening strikes on February 28.

Such revenge “is the will of our nation and must certainly be carried out,” Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said in a statement carried on state television, hours after US President Donald Trump threatened more missile attacks.

Oman said it and Iran agreed to keep talking about the Strait of Hormuz “at the technical and political levels,” a day after the United States called on Iran to publicly say the crucial waterway is open and ships won’t be attacked.

Iran accuses Washington of violating the interim deal  

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he met with his counterpart in Oman to discuss “appropriate mechanisms for ensuring the safe passage of ships.” The world for decades has considered the strait an international waterway. Iran has insisted that the strait now remain under its control and that it be allowed to charge ships moving through it, a stance it took after the war began. The US urges mariners to transit on a southern route through Oman’s territorial waters.

About a fifth of all traded oil and natural gas passed through the strait before the war began. Iran’s grip on it during the war led to a global energy crisis, though oil prices have sharply dropped since wartime highs of US$ 120 a barrel.

Iran’s top diplomat also accused the US of violating the interim deal by ending waivers allowing Iran to sell crude oil on the open market in US dollars. Washington ended them in response to the attacks on ships in the strait.

“Reality check: There can only be mutual compliance,” Araghchi wrote on X.

Trump says he responded to threats to kill him

A thousand “missiles are Locked and Loaded and aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran, with thousands more to immediately follow, should the Iranian Government act on its threat,” Trump wrote on social media overnight He said he was responding to threats “to assassinate, or attempt to assassinate” him. During Khamenei’s funeral, mourners held posters or banners calling for Trump to be killed along with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Trump has declared the ceasefire over but said the US would continue negotiations.

US officials, speaking Friday on condition of anonymity about the current situation with Iran, said the resumption of strikes in recent days came after what they described as a rogue faction of Iranian hard-liners tried to sabotage the ceasefire.

Iran has insisted its theocracy is unified under the new supreme leader.

After the US wrapped up its latest strikes on Thursday, more attacks reportedly hit Iran, raising questions about who else may be targeting the Islamic Republic.

Israel didn’t claim them, meaning the Gulf Arab states may have launched them, likely as a means to deter Iran from attacking them again. Iran on Thursday retaliated for US strikes by targeting Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait and Qatar.

The strikes in Iran over two days killed at least 17 people and wounded 115 others, Iranian Health Ministry spokesperson Hossein Kermanpour said.