President Donald Trump and Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi on Friday announced that the Strait of Hormuz is now “completely open” for all ships, so long as the Israel-Lebanon cease-fire remains in place — with Trump quickly celebrating the resulting tumbling gas prices.
“In line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage for all passage for all commercial vessels through Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire, on the coordinated route as already announced by Ports and Maritime Organisation of the Islamic Rep. of Iran,” Araghchi said in a post to X.
Trump then quickly took to Truth Social to share the news himself.
“IRAN HAS JUST ANNOUNCED THAT THE STRAIT OF IRAN IS FULLY OPEN AND READY FOR FULL PASSAGE. THANK YOU!”
Crude oil prices plummeted from $92.48 per barrel upon opening on Tuesday to roughly $83 per barrel in the wake of the announcement.
The US will maintain its blockade of Iranian ports — which does not impede other traffic — to keep the pressure on for Tehran to come to the table for a peace deal, he added.
“THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ IS COMPLETELY OPEN AND READY FOR BUSINESS AND FULL PASSAGE, BUT THE NAVAL BLOCKADE WILL REMAIN IN FULL FORCE AND EFFECT AS IT PERTAINS TO IRAN, ONLY, UNTIL SUCH TIME AS OUR TRANSACTION WITH IRAN IS 100% COMPLETE,” Trump wrote. “THIS PROCESS SHOULD GO VERY QUICKLY IN THAT MOST OF THE POINTS ARE ALREADY NEGOTIATED. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER! PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP.”
In a separate post, Trump said he rebuffed outreach from NATO — which he had repeatedly criticized for not taking an active role in opening up the strait throughout the past nearly seven weeks of war.
“Now that the Hormuz Strait situation is over, I received a call from NATO asking if we would need some help. I TOLD THEM TO STAY AWAY, UNLESS THEY JUST WANT TO LOAD UP THEIR SHIPS WITH OIL. They were useless when needed, a Paper Tiger! President DJT.”
He also addressed the broader regional situation, including nuclear fallout and Lebanon.
“The U.S.A. will get all Nuclear ‘Dust,’ created by our great B2 Bombers – No money will exchange hands in any way, shape, or form. This deal is in no way subject to Lebanon, either, but the USA will, separately, work with Lebanon, and deal with the Hezbollah situation in an appropriate manner. Israel will not be bombing Lebanon any longer. They are PROHIBITED from doing so by the U.S.A. Enough is enough!!! Thank you! President DJT.”
Maintaining the blockade allows Washington to hold its leverage against Tehran to force Iran to come to the table for peace talks and agree to a fair deal, while allowing other ships to access the waterway.
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Araghchi, in his message, did not mention the application of a toll on ships accessing the strait, as it had previously attempted to do during the height of the war with the US.
It only applies to routes pre-approved by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which had previously been floated as a mechanism for collecting tolls.
However, the pre-approved routes offer an element of safety to ships passing through the waters, which Iran mined during the conflict.
The cease-fire between Israel and Lebanon went into place on Friday and is scheduled to last 10 days.
Iran had initially claimed that Lebanon was included in the US-Iran cease-fire, but Washington held firm that Israel’s battle with the Iranian proxy group Hezbollah was not included in the original deal.
That deal — which is set to expire Tuesday — set the stage for peace talks to occur between the US and Iran. There has been no agreement to extend the US-Iran cease-fire.
Mediator Pakistan is working to arrange a second round of talks, but the parties have yet to formally commit. Now, the pressure is on to get one scheduled in Islamabad before the clock runs out.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
