On Saturday, April 18, 2026, Iran claims to have once again closed the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran specifically cited the blockade imposed by the United States.
Open, closed, then open again—like the iconic “day and night” sequence in “Les Visiteurs,” the Strait of Hormuz is also on alternating currents. On Saturday, April 18, 2026, Iran announced amidst the Middle East war that it had re-closed this passage, pointing fingers at the American blockade.
“Strict Control”
Iran’s Khatam Al-Anbiya military command expressed itself this Saturday via a press release. The document, broadcasted on the state television, initially mentioned that Iran had “in good faith accepted the passage of a limited number of oil tankers and commercial ships.”
However, it condemned the behavior of the Americans, violating their commitment and continuing to commit acts of piracy under the pretext of the so-called blockade. “For this reason, control of the Strait of Hormuz has returned to its previous state, and this strategic passage is now strictly controlled by Iran.”
“It had been reopened on Friday”
A few hours earlier, on Friday, April 17, 2026, Iran temporarily reopened the Strait of Hormuz to commercial traffic following a truce between Israel and Lebanon, raising hopes for peace talks between Tehran and Washington. President Donald Trump declared at a rally in Arizona that the announcement of the strait’s reopening marked “a great and incredible day for the world.”
A first convoy of ships carrying petrochemical products set sail in the Gulf on Saturday and headed towards the strait. However, uncertainty remains regarding how long it will take for navigation to return to normal. Donald Trump stated that the American blockade imposed on ships heading to Iranian ports, announced after the failed weekend negotiations with Iran, would remain in place until “our deal with Iran is fully concluded.”
Another Warning
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, who participated in talks held in Pakistan, had cautioned that the Strait of Hormuz “would not remain open” if the American blockade continued. Iran stated that all ships needed to coordinate with the Revolutionary Guards, which was not the case before the war.
The Defense Ministry also indicated in a statement that military ships and boats affiliated with “hostile forces”—the United States and Israel—still did not have the right of passage.
Donald Trump asserted that peace talks could take place this weekend. However, some diplomats believed this was unlikely given the logistical constraints of organizing a meeting in Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, where discussions were supposed to take place.
