In Flight – April 17: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One shortly before landing at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, April 17, 2026. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
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Although President Donald Trump expressed optimism about progress in peace talks with Iran and said talks continued as a fragile ceasefire remained in place, Iranian media reported on Saturday that the vital Strait of Hormuz was once again closed to shipping as the United States failed to meet its obligations.
“We had some pretty good news 20 minutes ago, and things seem to be going very well with Iran in the Middle East,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One as he headed to Washington, according to MS Now. “We’ll see in a little while. We’ll negotiate over the weekend.”
A major stalemate in the negotiations is the issue of recovering material from Iran’s nuclear program. President Trump said the United States would “work with Iran, and together we will occupy Iran and bring it all back to the United States.”
“We will accept it after the agreement is signed,” he said.
Peace talks held in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad over the weekend between a US delegation led by Vice President J.D. Vance and an Iranian negotiator led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf failed to reach an agreement.
President Trump added that the two-week ceasefire, which is scheduled to end on Wednesday, would likely not be extended and said the blockade of Iranian ports would continue. American and Israeli forces began airstrikes against Iranian targets on February 28.
President Trump said, “I may not extend it, but the lockdown will continue. But I probably won’t extend it, so the lockdown will be in place and unfortunately we’ll have to start dropping bombs again.”
Confusion over Hormuz
Earlier on Friday, Iran declared the Strait of Hormuz open to commercial shipping during a separate cease-fire between Israel and Lebanon, but confusion quickly arose over whether the sea lanes would really be open unconditionally.
Iranian state media reported on Saturday that the strait had since been closed because the United States had not honored its end of the bargain.
“Under the agreement, Iran has agreed to allow a limited number of ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz,” Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) said in a post on X.
“However, the US did not fulfill its obligations. As a result, the Strait of Hormuz is closed again and Iranian approval is required for passage,” IRIB news agency said.
On Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi said on social media: “Following the ceasefire in Lebanon, the navigation of all commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remainder of the ceasefire period.”
However, ships will have to follow a “coordinated route” announced by Iran’s maritime authorities, Araghchi said. It is unclear whether the Iranian government will force ships to pay tolls to transit the strait.
Israel and Lebanon agreed to a 10-day ceasefire on Thursday, starting at 5pm ET that evening. Israel’s military action in Lebanon against Hezbollah, a militant group closely allied with Iran, is another stalemate in negotiations between Washington and Tehran.
President Donald Trump expressed gratitude to Iran for opening the strait in a social media post on Friday. But President Trump said the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports would continue until an agreement is reached with the Iranian government.
President Trump said Friday that Iran “just announced that the Strait of Hormuz is fully open and ready for business and full transit,” even though the U.S. blockade remains “completely in place.”
“Today is going to be a great and bright day for the world,” President Trump said in a speech at the Turning Point USA event in Phoenix.
Mr. Ghalibaf was quick to refute Mr. Trump’s claim that Tehran had allowed passage through the strait.
“If the blockade continues, the Strait of Hormuz will not remain open,” Ghalibaf wrote in a translated X post.
In fact, video footage from ship-tracking company Kpler shows that a number of tankers and cargo ships actually attempted to leave the waterway on Friday but turned back.
“It’s clearly not cleared for transit,” Matt Smith, Kpler’s director of commodity research, told CNBC.
Iranian media affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards reported a limited reopening of the strait. Sources close to Iran’s Supreme Council for National Security told Tasnim News that commercial ships need to coordinate with the Iranian military.
According to Tasnim’s report, vessels will not be allowed to pass if the vessel or its cargo has ties to a hostile country. According to the report, the strait will be closed if the US naval blockade continues.
Oil prices fell more than 10% on Friday, below $90 a barrel. Before the war, about one-fifth of the world’s crude oil supply passed through this strait. The closure of the sea lanes linking the Persian Gulf to global energy markets caused the largest oil supply disruption in history.
President Trump agreed to a two-week ceasefire on April 7 in exchange for Iran to fully open the Strait. But Ghalibaf accused the United States of violating the agreement by allowing Israel to continue operations in Lebanon.
