Iran showcases control of Strait of Hormuz after peace talks collapse

Iran has released dramatic footage of commandos boarding a massive cargo vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, underscoring its tightening hold on the strategic passage after peace talks broke down.

Washington had pinned hopes on the negotiations to reopen what is widely regarded as the world’s most vital shipping route.

On Iranian state television, masked forces were shown racing up to the MSC Francesca in a speedboat, scaling a rope ladder to a hull door and leaping inside with rifles in hand.

The video, set to an action-movie-style soundtrack and aired without commentary, also showed images of a second vessel, the Epaminondas.

Parliament vice speaker Hamidreza Hajibabaei said the first proceeds from a toll Iran says it is charging ships passing through the waterway had been deposited into the central bank’s account.

He did not say who had paid, when the payment was made, or how much was involved.

Iran’s chief justice Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei said the merchant ships targeted in the strait had “faced the law”.

Iranian speedboats and marine drones were positioned in caves off an island near the entrance to the waterway, preventing the US Navy from moving closer.

Iran, which has in effect shut the Strait of Hormuz to all shipping except its own since the US and Israel launched the war in February, now appears to control the waterway after last-ditch peace talks were abandoned on Tuesday, just hours before a two-week ceasefire ran out.

Tehran has said it will not discuss reopening the strait — the normal transit point for one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas — unless Washington lifts a blockade on Iranian shipping imposed during the ceasefire, a move Iran says breached the truce.

The US military has intercepted at least three Iranian-flagged tankers in Asian waters and is steering them away from positions near India, Malaysia and Sri Lanka, according to shipping and security sources.

US President Donald Trump dropped threats to resume strikes on Iran in the final hours of the ceasefire on Tuesday, but he has not agreed to end the blockade.

No formal extension of the truce has been announced, and there are no public plans for new negotiations.

In a social media post this afternoon, Mr Trump said – without providing any evidence – ‌that the US had “total control” over the ‌Strait ⁠of ‌Hormuz, and that ⁠it ‌was “sealed up tight” until Iran ⁠made a deal.

Iranians, after six weeks of US and Israeli bombardment before the ceasefire took effect on 8 April, spoke of a tense and exhausting limbo under the threat that fighting could flare again.

“In a situation that is neither peace nor war, things are somewhat frightening.

“At every moment, you think that Israel or the US might launch an attack,” Arash, a 35-year-old government employee in Tehran, told the Reuters news agency by phone.

“You cannot make decisions about the future in such a situation.”

A giant billboard declaring ‘The Strait of Hormuz remains closed’ in Tehran’s Revolution Square

Pakistan, which hosted the war’s only peace talks earlier this month and had been preparing a second round before Tuesday’s collapse, remains in contact with both sides, a Pakistani government source said.

The source said Iranian officials were still refusing to commit to sending a delegation, pointing to the US blockade and other issues.

“Yesterday, diplomats from various countries met different Pakistani authorities and asked about the expected dates for the next round of talks, but they could not give them any timeframe, clearly,” the source added.

Iran has said publicly that it is prepared in principle to negotiate, but that the blockade and shifting demands from Washington make any commitment impossible.

“You did not achieve your goals through military aggression and you will not achieve them by bullying either,” Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, who is head of Iran’s negotiating team, wrote on social media.

“The only way is recognising the Iranian people’s rights.”

Separately, the US is expected to host a second round of talks between Israel and Lebanon, with Beirut pushing for an extension of a ceasefire agreed last week.

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In the latest wartime upheaval at the defence department, John Phelan, a billionaire investor chosen by Mr Trump to serve as secretary of the navy, has been dismissed.

Sources said he was fired after disputes over shipbuilding and strained relations with officials, including defence secretary Pete Hegseth.

So far, the US has failed to meet the goals Mr Trump laid out at the start of the war: stripping Iran of the ability to strike neighbouring states, ending its nuclear programme, and making it easier for its people to overthrow their government.

Iran still possesses missiles and drones capable of reaching its neighbours, as well as a stockpile of highly enriched uranium estimated by the United Nuclear nuclear watchdog at more than 400kg.

Its rulers, who killed thousands to crush a popular uprising in January, have encountered no organised opposition since the war began.

By taking control of the strait, they have gained fresh leverage despite threats from President Trump.