Iran reimposes restrictions after US continues blockade
Updated ,first published
US President Donald Trump said Iran “can’t blackmail us” over the Strait of Hormuz, after Iran reimposed restrictions on the critical waterway and reported ships attempting to attack transit.
Trump emphasized that “very good talks” with Iran are continuing and that the talks are “going very well” but that they are “getting a little cute, as they have for 47 years.”
While signing a decree in the Oval Office on Saturday morning (Washington time), Trump briefly touched on the war and said, “We’re talking to them. They wanted to close the strait again, like they’ve been doing for years. They can’t blackmail us.”
Trump said “some information will be available by the end of the day” but the US is “talking to them and we’re taking a tough stance.” He did not accept questions about the conflict.
Two gunboats belonging to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard opened fire on a tanker trying to cross the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, and a container ship was also damaged after being hit by an unknown projectile.
UK Merchant Marine Operations Center An attack was reported 20 nautical miles northeast of Oman on Saturday night and the tanker and crew were said to be safe, but the ship or its destination was not specified. The captain of the tanker also reported over the radio that two gunboats opened fire without challenging them.
In a separate incident, the center said it received a report that a cargo ship 25 nautical miles northeast of Oman “was hit by an unknown projectile that damaged some containers.”
Iran had previously said it was quickly reversing course on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and imposing restrictions on the critical waterway on Saturday, after the United States said it would not end its blockade of Iran-related shipping.
“Control of the Strait of Hormuz has been restored to its previous state under the strict management and control of the armed forces,” Iran’s joint military command said in a statement on Saturday. He warned that the US would continue to block passage through the strait as long as the blockade of Iranian ports continues.
The announcement came after US President Donald Trump said the American blockade “will remain in full force” until Tehran reaches an agreement with the US, including on its nuclear program, even after Iran announced the reopening of the strait on Friday.
The conflict over the bottleneck threatened to deepen the energy crisis roiling the global economy after oil prices began to fall again on Friday on hopes that the United States and Iran were moving closer to a deal. About a fifth of the world’s oil passes through the strait, and further restrictions would tighten the already limited supply and cause prices to rise once again.
Control of the strait has proven to be one of Iran’s main trump cards, prompting the United States to deploy forces and begin a blockade of Iranian ports as part of an effort to force Iran to accept a Pakistan-brokered ceasefire to end almost seven weeks of war between Israel, the United States and Iran.
Iran says it has fully reopened the Strait of Hormuz to commercial ships following a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, where it is fighting the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group.
However, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday that a French soldier serving among international forces in southern Lebanon was killed and three other soldiers were injured in the attack, adding that evidence showed Hezbollah was responsible.
In a post on X, Macron called on the Lebanese government to take action against the alleged perpetrators. The soldiers were part of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), a peacekeeping mission in the south of the country.
An end to Israel’s war with Hezbollah was a key demand of Iranian negotiators, who had previously accused Israel of breaking last week’s ceasefire by attacking Lebanon. Israel had said that the agreement did not cover Lebanon.
However, after Trump said that the blockade would continue, senior Iranian officials said that this announcement violated the ceasefire agreement signed between Iran and the USA last week and warned that the strait would not remain open if the US blockade continued.
Data firm Kpler said movement in the strait was limited to corridors that required Iran’s approval. US forces have returned 21 ships to Iran since the blockade began on Monday, US Central Command said in a statement at X.
Despite tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, Pakistani officials say the United States and Iran are still nearing an agreement ahead of the April 22 deadline for a ceasefire.
A ceasefire in Lebanon could eliminate the biggest obstacle to a deal. Speaking at a diplomatic forum in Antalya, Türkiye, Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishak Dar said the ceasefire in Lebanon was a positive sign, noting that the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah had been a major sticking point before ending “very close” to an agreement in Islamabad last weekend.
The army and Sharif’s office said Pakistani army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir visited Tehran, while Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in Antalya. Pakistan is expected to host the second round of talks between Iran and the United States early next week.
Although mediators were optimistic, it was unclear to what extent Hezbollah would comply with the ceasefire, playing no role in the negotiations, which would lead to Israeli troops occupying part of southern Lebanon.
In another post, Trump said Israel was “prohibited” from further attacks on Lebanon by the United States and said “enough is enough” in the Israel-Hezbollah war.
The State Department said the ban only applies to offensive attacks, not actions in self-defense.
Shortly before Trump’s post, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel had agreed to a ceasefire in Lebanon “at the request of my friend President Trump” but that the campaign against Hezbollah was not yet completed.
He claimed that Israel had destroyed nearly 90 percent of Hezbollah’s missile and rocket stockpile, adding that Israeli forces were “not yet finished” with dismantling the group.
In Beirut, displaced families began moving towards southern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs, despite warnings from authorities not to return to their homes until it was clear whether the ceasefire would continue.
The Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon reported sporadic artillery shelling on parts of southern Lebanon in the hours after the ceasefire came into force.
In the war that started with the attacks of the USA and Israel on February 28, at least 3000 people lost their lives in Iran, more than 2290 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in the Gulf Arab countries. Thirteen US soldiers were also killed.
AP, Reuters
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