...
By Brendan Cole, Ellie Cook, and Hannah Parry
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
President Donald Trump said the Strait of Hormuz is open despite competing claims over access through the critical waterway, whose unblocking formed a key part of the deal to end the Iran war.
Trump's Truth Social post came a day after dozens of vessels had been tracked transiting the strait that had been closed by Tehran and prompted a retaliatory U.S. move to block Iranian ports. Maritime traffic has resumed through the waterway, although as of Tuesday it had not yet returned to pre-war levels.
An urgent element of the framework deal announced last week to end the Iran war was to reopen the waterway through which one-fifth of the world’s hydrocarbons transit. However, shipping companies are cautious about sending their vessels through it amid conflicting signals about the agreement and the presence of mines.
Read More on World
During his remarks in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, Trump claimed that, due to the "historic peace agreement.... yesterday 19 million barrels of oil flowed out of the Strait of Hormuz. That's the most that's the most oil in the history of the Strait. It's never been any you've never seen anything like that."
The 19 million barrel figure is actually less than the average 20 million barrels per day of crude oil and oil products that were shipped in 2025.
...
Trump said that as part of their agreement, Iran had accepted long-term, high-level nuclear inspections, which addresses one reason for launching the war against the Islamic Republic on February 28.
“Based on this and other major concessions being made by Iran, I have agreed to allow the Hormuz Strait to remain OPEN, with no further Naval Blockade,” Trump said on Truth Social. “However, all ships are remaining in place should it be necessary to reinstitute the Blockade, which seems, at this point, highly unlikely,” he added.
The president later claimed, on Tuesday, that the U.S. was "leaving Iran with no Navy, no Air Force, no anti-aircraft, no missile capability, no nuclear program. We're leaving them without any nuclear capacity. And they've agreed to that."
In fact, U.S. and Israeli operations have reportedly caused significant damage to parts of Iran's military infrastructure, including air-defense systems, missile facilities, some naval assets, and certain aircraft. However, Iran retained military capabilities after the strikes and was still able to launch missile attacks afterward.
Is the Strait of Hormuz Open?
Iran claimed that it had closed the strait on Saturday due to Israeli "violations" of the ceasefire in Lebanon, but maritime data indicated that 25 vessels passed through it between Sunday and Monday. More vessels passed through on Tuesday.
Iran has indicated it would charge for traffic through the strait, as part of its efforts to maintain its grip on the waterway, but this would contravene international maritime law.
Under the current United States–Iran agreement, the waterway is meant to remain toll‑free for at least the next 60 days, although there is no clear U.S. position on what happens after that. Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi said on Tuesday both countries had “affirmed commitment to international law and toll-free safe passage.”
On Sunday, the U.S. and Iranian delegations agreed to form a line of communication to prevent military incidents in the waterway as commercial vessels transit through it. Iran's top negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said the link would head off any "misunderstandings."
Adversaries in a conflict usually have emergency ways of communicating to make sure they can de-escalate a conflict, particularly when countries with nuclear weapons are involved.
But Iranian state media have presented the move as establishing Iran’s sovereignty over the waterway, since it would require vessels to coordinate with Iran to pass safely.
How Hard Is It to Reopen the Strait?
Reopening the strait isn't just about the U.S. declaring the narrow waterway open, or a trickle of vessels making their way in and out, experts say. It's about whether the shipping industry and insurers are confident enough to send vulnerable tankers and cargo ships through the chokepoint.
It's "very, very difficult" to fully reopen the narrow waterway, said Jack Watling, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) think tank in London. It's not "economically open" if the shipping industry isn't assured it's safe to make the journey, he told Newsweek.
This is because traffic through the strait will depend on whether shipping companies deem it safe enough to send their ships, some of which will be laden with oil that, if spilled, could become an ecological disaster.
The Joint Maritime Information Center, which is backed by multiple militaries, last week reduced the threat level for vessels in the strait to "moderate," but still warned sailors to be wary of mines in the waterway. The center told ships to follow a specific route close to Oman, which has been cleared of explosives.
But even in the best-case scenario, the reverberations of the effective closure of the strait will be felt for months to come, said Watling.
In addition to holding a fifth of the world's oil and gas, it is also the main waterway for transporting fertilizer by sea. But the blockage has meant that fertilizer deliveries have not reached their destinations by the time planting season rolls around.
The impact of these delays won't really be felt until the fall, said Watling.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Frances Mao and Sam Wilson.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines