BEIRUT (AP) β Iran said Friday it fully reopened the Strait of Hormuz to commercial vessels, but President Donald Trump said theΒ American blockadeΒ on Iranian ships and ports βwill remain in full forceβ until Tehran reaches a deal with the U.S., including onΒ its nuclear program.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on X that the crucial waterway, through which about 20% of the world’s oil is shipped, was now fully open to commercial vessels, asΒ a 10-day truceΒ between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon appeared to hold.
Trump initially celebrated the Iranian announcement, posting on social media that the strait was “fully open and ready for full passage.β But minutes later, he issued another post saying the U.S. Navy’s blockade would continue βUNTIL SUCH TIME AS OUR TRANSACTION WITH IRAN IS 100% COMPLETE.β
The president also said Iran, with help from the U.S., is working to remove all mines from the strait.
A spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry said the blockade was a violation of the ceasefire agreement.
In comments published by Iranian state media, Esmail Baghaei said the strait is still under the supervision of Iran, which is serious about its commitments. But if the U.S. violates its own commitments, then Iran “will take the necessary reciprocal measures.”
βNo leniency will be shown in this regard,β Baghaei said.
Trump suggests new talks could happen this weekend
TrumpΒ imposed the blockadeΒ earlier this week after Iran restricted traffic through the strait due to fighting in Lebanon, which Iran claimed was a breach of theΒ Pakistan-brokered ceasefireΒ reached between the U.S., Israel and Iran.
The president’s decision to continue the blockade despite Iranβs announcement appeared aimed at sustaining pressure on Tehran as the fate of the two-week ceasefire reached last week remained uncertain. The ceasefire pausedΒ almost seven weeks of warΒ between Israel, the U.S. and Iran.
Direct talks between the U.S. and Iran last weekend were inconclusive, as the two nations could not agree about Iranβs nuclear program and other points.
Trump suggested a second round of talks could happen this weekend.
βThe Iranians want to meet,β he said in a brief telephone interview with the news outlet Axios. βThey want to make a deal. I think a meeting will probably take place over the weekend.β
OilΒ prices fellΒ Friday on hopes the U.S. and Iran were drawing closer to an agreement . The head of the International Energy Agency had warned thatΒ the energy crisisΒ could get worse if theΒ straitΒ did not reopen.
Iranian media challenge announcement about Strait of Hormuz
Two Iranian semiofficial news agencies seemed to challenge Araghchi’s announcement about the strait.
Considered close with Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard, the Fars news agency issued a series of posts on X criticizing what it said was a lack of clarity over the decision to reopen the waterway and a βstrange silence from the Supreme National Security Council and the negotiating team.β
Iranβs Supreme National Security Council has recently acted as the country’s de facto top decision-making body, amid doubts over the status of the new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, who was reportedly wounded early in the war.
The Mehr news agency also said the decision to reopen the strait needed βclarificationβ and required the supreme leaderβs approval.
Truce in Lebanon could help US-Iran peace efforts
The ceasefire in Lebanon could clear one major obstacle to a deal between Iran, the United States and Israel to endΒ weeks of devastating war. But it was unclear to what extent Hezbollah would abide by a deal it did not play a role in negotiating and which will leave Israeli troops occupying a stretch of southern Lebanon.
Trump said in another post that Israel is βprohibitedβ by the U.S. from further strikes on Lebanon and that βenough is enoughβ in the Israel-Hezbollah war.
The State Department said the prohibition applies only to offensive attacks and not to actions taken in self-defense.
Shortly before Trump’s post, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel agreed to the ceasefire in Lebanon βat the request of my friend President Trump,β but that the campaign against Hezbollah is not complete.
He claimed Israel had destroyed about 90% of Hezbollahβs missile and rocket stockpiles and added that Israeli forces βhave not finished yetβ with the dismantling of the group.
Celebrations in Beirut
In Beirut, celebratory gunshots rang out at the start of the truce. Displaced families began moving toward southern Lebanon and Beirutβs southern suburbs despite warnings by officials not to return to their homes until it became clear whether the ceasefire would hold.
The Lebanese army and U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon had reported sporadic artillery shelling in some parts of southern Lebanon in the hours after the ceasefire took effect.
An Israeli strike in the area of Kounine hit a car and a motorcycle, killing one person and wounding three, including a Syrian citizen, the Lebanese Health Ministry said Friday. It was the first airstrike and first fatality reported since the truce took effect.
There was no immediate response from the Israeli army or Hezbollah.
Trump heralded the deal as a βhistoric day for Lebanonβ and expressed confidence the war with Iran would soon end.
βI will say the war in Iran is going along swimmingly,β Trump said in Las Vegas. βIt should be ending pretty soon.β
An end to Israelβs war with Hezbollah was a key demand of Iranian negotiators, who previously accused Israel of breaking the current ceasefire with strikes on Lebanon. Israel said that deal did not cover Lebanon.
The fighting has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, more than 2,290 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Thirteen U.S. service members have also been killed.
Israel says it will keep troops in Lebanon
Israeli forces have engaged in fierce battles with Hezbollah as they pushed into southern Lebanon to create what officials have called a βsecurity zone.β
Israelβs hard-line Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel would continue to hold all the places it is currently stationed, including a buffer zone extending 10 kilometers (6 miles) into southern Lebanon. He said many homes in the area would be destroyed and Lebanese residents will not return.
Hezbollah has said Lebanese people have βthe right to resistβ Israeli occupation and that their actions βwill be determined based on how developments unfold.β
Israel and Hezbollah have fought several wars and have been fighting on and off since the day after the start of the Gaza war. Israel and Lebanon reached a deal to end that war in November 2024, but Israel has kept up near-daily strikes in what it says is an effort to prevent the Iran-backed militant group from regrouping. That escalated into another invasion after Hezbollah again began firing missiles at Israel in response to its war on Iran.
Mediators seek compromise on three points
Mediators are pushing for compromise on three main points: Iranβs nuclear program, the Strait of Hormuz and compensation for wartime damages, according to a regional official involved in the mediation efforts.
Trump on Friday suggested Iran has agreed to hand over its enriched uranium.
βThe U.S.A. will get all Nuclear βDust,β created by our great B2 Bombers β No money will exchange hands in any way, shape, or form,β he said in a post. Nuclear dust is the shorthand Trump frequently uses to refer to the highly enriched uranium that is believed buried under nuclear sites the U.S. bombed during last yearβs 12-day war between Israel and Iran.
If true, it would be a major concession from Iran and would lock in a key demand of the U.S. to end the conflict. Neither Iran nor countries acting as intermediaries in the conflict have said Tehran has made such an agreement.
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Madhani reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Matthew Lee and Ben Finley in Washington, Samy Magdy and Amir Rajdy in Cairo, Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Abby Sewell in Beirut and Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.
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