Iran has reimposed control over the Strait of Hormuz just hours after reopening it, plunging the critical global shipping corridor back into uncertainty and reversing a brief market rally that had pushed oil prices sharply lower.
On Friday, April 17, Iran announced the reopening of the strait to commercial vessels after a 10-day truce was sealed between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon. The reopening triggered a fall in oil prices.
The reversal came swiftly. President Donald Trump said the United States blockade of Iranian ports would remain in full force, and warned that attacks could resume if no agreement was reached before the current ceasefire with Iran expires next week, telling reporters aboard Air Force One: “Maybe I won’t extend it, so you’ll have a blockade and unfortunately we’ll have to start dropping bombs again.”
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said the United States had violated ceasefire conditions, declared the strait closed, and warned that vessels approaching would be treated as cooperating with the enemy.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations organisation, which monitors maritime security activity around the Strait of Hormuz, reported that a tanker near the strait was attacked by two IRGC gunboats, with no injuries reported in the incident.
The strait is 34 kilometres wide at its narrowest point, with its two unidirectional sea lanes facilitating the transit of around 20 million barrels of oil per day, representing roughly 20 percent of global seaborne oil trade. Maritime tracking data showed several ships turning back from the waterway after the re-closure announcement, while tankers that had begun heading toward the strait aborted their journeys.
Also on Friday, the United States Treasury Department said it would extend its pause on sanctions on Russian oil shipments to ease shortages caused by the Iran war, reversing an earlier position from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who had ruled out such a move as recently as Wednesday.
With the two-week ceasefire set to expire in four days, the United States and Iran are continuing talks aimed at reaching a lasting agreement.
