Trump says Iran has agreed to never close the Strait of Hormuz again. But Iran is already threatening to block it again

The US President Donald Trump said that Iran would never again block the passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz after its opening on April 17. But Iran has put forward its own conditions for shipping in the strait.

"Iran has agreed to never close the Strait of Hormuz again. It will no longer be used as a weapon against the world," Trump wrote on his Truth Social.

He also announced that Iran would neutralize all naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz, and the United States would help with this.

Meanwhile, Iran has warned that if the US continues the naval blockade (which Trump has rejected), the Strait of Hormuz will be closed again. This is one of Tehranʼs conditions for ships to pass through the strait, an interlocutor for the Iranian Tasnim news agency said.

Among other conditions published by the media:

• Traffic through the strait is permitted only for commercial vessels, provided that neither they nor their cargo are connected to “warring countries”. The passage of warships is prohibited.
• Ships must only travel along a route designated by Iran. Vessel traffic will be coordinated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
• The unblocking of the strait is in effect as long as the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon lasts.

The day before, Trump reported that Israel and Lebanon had agreed to a 10-day ceasefire. Today, he tweeted that he had banned Israel from bombing Lebanon, saying the US would receive Iranʼs remaining enriched uranium.

War in the Middle East, negotiations between Iran, the US, Israel and Lebanon

On the morning of February 28, the US and Israel launched an attack on Iran. Iranʼs Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and almost the entire military leadership of the country — about 40 key high-ranking officials — were killed.

Iran, in response to the US and Israeli attacks, began shelling Arab countries and Israel. The war also halted tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, through which almost a fifth of the worldʼs oil exports passed. This led to a sharp increase in oil and gas prices.

On the night of April 8, Trump wrote that he had agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran. Later, Iran published a 10-point peace plan: under it, the parties would cease hostilities, the US would withdraw troops from the Middle East and would no longer attack Iranian bases, and ships would have limited access to the Strait of Hormuz for two weeks.

Iran would also be required to lift primary and secondary sanctions and compensate for losses. Iran would commit not to developing nuclear weapons, and the US would recognize Iranʼs right to enrich uranium.

But on the afternoon of April 8, the Prime Minister of Pakistan said that ceasefire violations had been recorded in several places in the conflict zone in the Middle East.

Reuters sources reported that Iran had struck the East-West oil pipeline in Saudi Arabia, which is currently the only channel for exporting crude oil from the country, and other facilities. Before that, Iran announced an American attack on the refinery on Laban Island and threatened to respond.

At the same time, Israel launched its largest attack on Lebanon since the start of the new war: in 10 minutes, the Israeli army attacked more than 100 sites of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah, killing more than 350 people. Israel claims that the ceasefire does not apply to Lebanon, while Pakistani mediators wrote that the cessation of hostilities also applies to Lebanon.

Peace talks between the United States and Iran took place on April 10-11 and lasted almost 21 hours. The parties did not agree on a final end to the war.

On April 16, Trump wrote on Truth Social that he had spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun. They agreed to a ten-day ceasefire, which was to begin at midnight Kyiv time on April 17. Trump wrote that this would be the tenth war he had ended.

Representatives of Israel and Iran held their first direct talks since 1993 in Washington on April 14. But fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, a pro-Iranian group in Lebanon, continued. On April 16, Trump announced that the leaders of Israel and Lebanon would hold direct talks the following day.

Israel has said that the main goal of the talks with Lebanon is the complete disarmament of Hezbollah and the establishment of stable interstate relations. Lebanon demands a ceasefire and help overcome the humanitarian crisis.

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