Saturday 18 / April / 2026
Iran will close the Hormuz Strait again if the United States maintains a blockade of Iranian ports, Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Saturday.
"With the continuation of the blockade, the Strait of Hormuz will not remain open," Ghalibaf wrote on X, adding that passage through the waterway would be along routes determined by Tehran and depend on Iranian authorization.
The statement came hours after Iran announced ships would be allowed to transit the strait and after US President Donald Trump said his country would keep up its blockade until US and Iranian negotiators agreed to a long-term peace deal.
Trump threatens to end Iran ceasefire if no deal reached by Wednesday
US President Donald Trump said he may pull out of the ceasefire with Iran if a long-term deal to end the war is not agreed upon by Wednesday.
"Maybe I won't extend it, but the blockade (on Iranian ports) is going to remain," Trump told reporters Friday on Air Force One en route to Washington from Phoenix, Arizona.
Trump also said, without elaborating, there had been some "pretty good news" regarding Iran.
"We had some pretty good news 20 minutes ago, but it seems to be going very well in the Middle East with Iran," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.
Cryptically, he also announced he would make a public statement on Saturday, saying only that it would not be about Iran.
