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The US and Iran announced on Friday that the Strait of Hormuz has reopened, although Iranian state media later said that would be void if Washington continued its blockade of the waterway.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said earlier that “in line with the ceasefire in Lebanon”, the strait was now “completely open” for the remaining period of the truce. He added that passage for ships would follow the co-ordinated route “announced by the Ports and Maritime Organisation of Iran”.
The two-week US-Iran ceasefire ends on April 22. Mr Araghchi made his comments on X on the first day of the 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
But an Iranian source, quoted by Tasnim news agency, said transit through the strait would be considered "void" if the US naval blockade continued. The source laid out "three conditions" for vessels seeking to pass – ships must be strictly commercial, military transit remains prohibited and neither the vessel nor its cargo can be linked to countries deemed hostile by Iran.
Those conditions also exposed internal friction over how the policy is being communicated. Tasnim criticised Mr Araghchi for his social media post, saying it created ambiguity over Iran's rules for transit.
After Mr Araghchi's announcement, US President Donald Trump thanked Iran for opening the strait in a post on Truth Social and expressed gratitude to Pakistan for its mediation efforts, as well as the UAE and other Gulf countries for their “great bravery and help”.
He called it a "great and brilliant day for the world" and said Iran agreed to "never close the Strait of Hormuz again". The waterway "will no longer be used as a weapon against the world", he said in a separate post.
But Mr Trump added that the US blockade of the channel was still in effect.
“The Strait of Hormuz is completely open and ready for business and full passage, but the naval blockade will remain in full force and effect as it pertains to Iran, only until such time as our transaction with Iran is 100 per cent complete,” he said in a post on Truth Social. “This process should go very quickly in that most of the points are already negotiated.”
Mr Trump said Iran and the US were together working to demine the strait, through which about a fifth of the world's oil normally passes. The US initiated its blockade of the strait after Iran continued to block vessels while Israeli carried out attacks on Lebanon. A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah is now in effect.
Washington and Tehran are believed to be planning further negotiations to end their conflict.
In a later post, Mr Trump said the US will get all “nuclear dust” created by strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.
“No money will exchange hands in any way, shape or form. This deal is in no way subject to Lebanon, either, but the USA will, separately, work with Lebanon, and deal with the Hezbollah situation in an appropriate manner,” he said.
Mr Trump also said Israel was "prohibited" from launching further attacks on Lebanon. "Israel will not be bombing Lebanon any longer," Mr Trump said in yet another post on Truth Social. "They are prohibited from doing so by the USA. Enough is enough."
He insisted the deal with Iran "is not tied, in any way, to Lebanon", but added that "we will make Lebanon great again".
