Iran said Saturday it was re-closing the Strait of Hormuz, just three days after the critical shipping waterway had reopened under the framework agreement that paused the war between Tehran and Washington, D.C.
Tehran said the U.S. had failed to stop Israel’s continued strikes in Lebanon, violating the new memorandum of understanding the two countries signed earlier this week.
The announcement came moments after Vice President JD Vance publicly said the strait remained open. U.S. Central Command also posted on X earlier Saturday morning that 55 commercial ships had transited the waterway that day, moving “more than 17 million barrels of oil to global markets.”
“U.S. forces remain present and vigilant to ensure all aspects of the agreement with Iran are adhered to, obeyed, and in full force and effect,” CENTCOM said.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard navy warned that any vessel entering the waterway without sticking to a designated southern lane around Larak Island would do so at its own risk and could face mines, collision or attack, the New York Times reported.
The closure marks the first major test of the U.S.-Iran agreement President Trump signed in Switzerland earlier this week, which paused more than three months of war. Trump’s envoys had already returned to Switzerland on Saturday for a separate round of nuclear talks, set to begin Sunday.
Even with the strait closing, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said working-level talks between the two countries would still proceed on Sunday in Switzerland, with Pakistani and Qatari mediators on hand. Iran’s delegation has already left for the meeting, state media reported.
The Strait of Hormuz handles roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil flows. Its closure for much of the war drove average gasoline prices in the U.S. above $5 a gallon and was one of the political pressures that pushed Trump to the negotiating table.
The framework agreement Trump signed earlier this week explicitly tied the strait’s reopening to the broader ceasefire — including a halt to fighting in Lebanon between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. Both sides have spent the past several days accusing each other of ceasefire violations.
Israeli forces struck targets across southern Lebanon on Saturday. Lebanon’s health ministry put the toll at seven dead and more than a dozen wounded. Israel said the strikes followed an overnight Hezbollah barrage of more than 50 projectiles aimed at its troops. It was the sixth Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire to collapse in recent weeks.
This is a developing story. It will be updated.
