TEHRAN/WASHINGTON - The Navy of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said that the Strait of Hormuz has been blocked since Saturday evening and will not reopen until the United States lifts its naval blockade on the waterway.
In a statement carried by its official news outlet Sepah News, the IGRC said that the move came after the United States violated its commitments under the two-week ceasefire, which took effect on April 8, and failed to end its naval blockade against Iranian vessels and ports.
The IRGC Navy called on all vessels and their owners to follow official updates via its channel and VHF Channel 16, the international maritime distress, safety, and calling frequency. The statements by US President Donald Trump hold no credibility in the strait and the Gulf, it added.
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The IRGC warned that no vessel should move from its anchorage in the Gulf or the Gulf of Oman, and any approach to the strait would be deemed "cooperation with the enemy" and targeted accordingly.
Iran had tightened control over the strait since Feb 28, when it barred passage to vessels belonging to or affiliated with Israel and the United States after the two countries' joint strikes on Iranian territory. The United States later imposed its own blockade on the waterway after peace negotiations with Iran in Pakistan's Islamabad collapsed.
On Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said the strait would remain "completely open" to commercial shipping during the current truce with the United States, in line with the announcement of the ceasefire in Lebanon.
However, Trump said Friday the US naval blockade would "remain in full force," noting that the United States would not lift it until the country makes a deal with Iran. He then said Saturday that Iran cannot "blackmail" the United States with the strait.
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"We're talking to them. They wanted to close up the strait again... and they can't blackmail us," Trump said at an event in the White House.
Iran's Supreme National Security Council said on Saturday that the country is determined to control traffic through the Strait of Hormuz until the war is definitively ended and lasting peace is achieved in the region.
As long as the enemy intends to disrupt the passage of vessels and employ methods such as naval blockade, Iran will consider this a violation of the ceasefire and will prevent the conditional and limited opening of the strait, it said.
Vessel tracking data showed that around 10 ships turned back on Saturday while attempting to pass through the waterway, following Tehran's renewed control over it.
