Iran won’t reopen Hormuz if blockade stays

TEHRAN (AFP) — Iran vowed it would not reopen the Strait of Hormuz as long as the United States continues to blockade its ports, in a tense standoff on Thursday that has dominated the ceasefire in the Middle East war.

While strikes around the region have mostly ceased since the truce began, there has been no letup in the pressure around the crucial trade route, with the two sides exercising their economic leverage in a bid to force the other to back down.

With the ceasefire due to expire earlier this week, US President Donald Trump announced an indefinite extension at the eleventh hour, to allow more time for peace talks brokered by Pakistan.

Iran said it welcomed the efforts by Pakistan but made no other comment on Trump’s announcement.

“A complete ceasefire only has meaning if it is not violated through a naval blockade,” said Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who led Tehran’s delegation in the first round of talks in Islamabad.

“Reopening the Strait of Hormuz is not possible amid a blatant violation of the ceasefire.”

Oil prices jumped four percent before easing Thursday, as the foes appeared no closer to holding new negotiations.

Trump told the New York Post that talks could resume in Pakistan within two to three days, even though Iran has not confirmed participation and Vice President JD Vance put his travel to Islamabad on hold Tuesday.

The US leader also claimed that Iran at his request had halted alleged plans to execute eight women arrested over massive anti-government protests in the weeks before the attack.

But Iran’s judiciary described his remarks as “false news,” saying the women had never faced the death penalty.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they forced two ships to the Iranian shore from the Strait of Hormuz, the gateway for about one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas flows.

“The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps naval force this morning identified and stopped in the Strait of Hormuz two violating ships,” the Guards said in a statement.

They identified the vessels as the Panama-flagged container ship MSC Francesca and the Liberia-flagged Epaminondas.