On Wednesday, April 8, Iran issued a warning to foreign ships that they would be “destroyed” if they tried to cross the Strait of Hormuz without Tehran’s approval.
“The Iranian Sepah Navy must grant you permission to cross the Strait. An Iranian official was heard saying, “If any vessel tries to transit without permission, will be destroyed,” in audio that a crew member provided to the Wall Street Journal.
Despite President Trump’s announcement late on Tuesday that Iran had consented to the “COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz,” which is where more than a fifth of the world’s seaborne oil flows each year, the threat still exists.
The opening of the Strait was a key condition of the Iran war cease-fire agreement as fuel prices have surged worldwide in the wake of Iran’s closure of the crucial chokepoint.
Tehran had used missiles and drones to wreak havoc on the strait in retaliation against the joint US-Israeli strikes on its country to exact a toll on the global economy.
The cease-fire Trump unveiled on Tuesday lasts for two weeks as the two sides negotiate a longer-term solution to end the war that began on Feb. 28.
A senior Iranian official involved in the talks said the strait could be reopened in a “limited” way under Iran’s control on Thursday or Friday and that “coordinating with the Iranian military will be mandatory for all ships.”
“If an understanding on a framework for talks is reached, the strait could be opened, limited, under Iran’s control,” the official told Reuters. “Coordinating with Iranian military will be mandatory for all ships.
“Still, the cease-fire is fragile; however, we prefer lasting peace, but Iran has no fear to return to war if the US wants to go the same way,” the official warned.
In a press conference on Wednesday, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth insisted the strait was open and “commerce will flow.”
“What has been agreed to, what’s been stated, is the strait is open. Our military is watching, sure, their military is watching, but commerce will flow,” he told reporters.