Top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said the US blockade of Iranian ports was a “clumsy and ignorant decision”.
Published April 18, 2026
The dramatic reversal comes less than 24 hours after the critical shipping lane was reopened, with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Navy (IRGC) saying the Strait of Hormuz was closed and any ships attempting to pass through the waterway would be targeted.
In a statement carried by the Iranian Student News Agency, the Revolutionary Guards Navy announced on Saturday that it would close the strait until the United States lifts its naval blockade on Iranian ships and ports. It said the blockade was a violation of the ongoing ceasefire agreement between the United States and Israel in their war against Iran.
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“We warn that vessels of any kind must not move from their anchorages in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, and approaching the Strait of Hormuz will be considered cooperation with the enemy and violating vessels will be targeted.”
“The Strait of Hormuz is under the control of the Islamic Republic,” Mohammad Berger Ghalibaf, speaker of Iran’s parliament and chief negotiator for negotiations between Washington and Tehran to end the war, said in a television interview.
He added: “The US has been declaring a lockdown for several days now. This is a clumsy and ignorant decision.”
The reassertion of control came just hours after Iran briefly reopened the strait to coincide with a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. Oil prices fell on global markets after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday that the waterway was “completely open to all commercial vessels.”
More than a dozen merchant ships passed through the waterway before the Revolutionary Guards changed course.
Iranian gunboats reportedly shelled two merchant vessels on Saturday, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO). India’s Ministry of External Affairs also announced that two Indian-flagged vessels were involved in a “shooting incident” in the strait.
Some merchant vessels in the area received radio messages from the Revolutionary Guards Navy warning them that ships were not allowed to pass.
US President Donald Trump has said Tehran cannot blackmail the US by closing the waterway and threatened to end the ceasefire if a deal is not reached by Wednesday’s deadline. Trump added that the naval blockade “remains in full force and effect.”
Meanwhile, Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said the navy was ready to inflict “another bitter defeat” on the enemy.
“Two competing blockades”
Al Jazeera correspondent Zain Basrabi said Iran and the US were back to where they were the day before.
“Less than 24 hours later, world leaders were praising Iran for what they saw as a confidence-building move by opening the Strait of Hormuz, in the hope that it could lead to a cease-fire agreement and a permanent end to the conflict,” he said.
“People may be disappointed, but this is not at all surprising. What we are seeing now is going back to square one,” he added, noting that there were currently “two competing lockdowns in place”.
Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem, reporting from Tehran, said Iran was using the strait to send messages.
“It’s clear that Iran is dealing with a situation where it doesn’t know what’s on the table. So the Strait of Hormuz has once again become the only theater of engagement, even if it’s a negative engagement. And it’s a space where Iran is sending messages to the United States, communicating and exerting influence,” he said.
