Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz again, according to Tehran’s Fars News Agency. “Control of the Strait of Hormuz has returned to its previous state, and this strategic strait is under the strict management and control of Iran’s Armed Forces,” an Iranian spokesman was quoted as saying.
It came a day after Iran declared that it would allow non-military vessels to pass through the strait for the duration of a ceasefire between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.
However, the United States had continued to “engage in banditry and maritime piracy under the guise of a so-called blockade”, the spokesman said.
He added that the Strait of Hormuz would remain “tightly controlled” until the US agreed to complete freedom of navigation for vessels passing through the waterway.
An hour after the reversal was announced, Tasnim News Agency reported that Tehran had not agreed to a second round of talks with Washington, dismissing earlier reports that more negotiations were scheduled for the coming days.
The semi-official Iranian news agency cited the US’ naval blockade and its “excessive demands in negotiations” as reasons for not agreeing to further discussions in Islamabad, noting that the withdrawal of such conditions was a basic requirement for talks to continue.
“Otherwise, Iran is not seeking to waste time in drawn-out and unproductive negotiations,” Tasnim reported, adding that Iran’s position had been conveyed to US officials through Pakistan.
Earlier, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of the Iranian parliament, had threatened to close the strait again if the US blockade remained in place.
“Passage through the Strait of Hormuz will be conducted based on the ‘designated route’ and with ‘Iranian authorisation’,” Ghalibaf said on social media on Saturday.
He also said that US President Donald Trump gave several statements on Friday on the progress of talks with Iran, all of which were false.
In a phone interview with CBS, Trump said Iran had “agreed to everything”, including working together with the US to remove its enriched uranium.
His claims were quickly rejected by Iran’s foreign ministry, which said Iran would not be transferring its enriched uranium to another country, and that sending it to the US had not been an option.