Iran says Strait of Hormuz remains completely open, foreign minister says

Saturday April 18, 2026

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi [Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters]

Iran said the Strait of Hormuz is “completely open” to commercial shipping and will stay that way for the duration of the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire, as United States President Donald Trump declared that a deal to end the US-Israeli war on Iran was “very close”.

“In line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage for all commercial vessels through Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X on Friday.

A 10-day ceasefire was agreed upon between Israel and Lebanon late on Thursday, though it was unclear whether the Iran-aligned armed group Hezbollah, which has been fighting against Israel’s invasion of southern Lebanon over the course of the war on Iran, would recognise it.

Araghchi added that vessel movement through the strait would follow the coordinated route “already announced by the Ports and Maritime Organisation of Iran.”

The announcement immediately pushed oil prices lower, with benchmark Brent crude futures sliding below $90 a barrel. Brent settled at $87.94, down 11.5 percent on the day, while US crude dropped by a similar margin to $83.33 a barrel.

Trump said in a post on social media that the strait was “completely open and ready for business and full passage”, but he added that the US naval blockade of Iran would “remain in full force” until Tehran reaches a deal with Washington to end the war.

In another post, he said Iran had agreed to “never close the Strait of Hormuz again”.

“It will no longer be used as a weapon against the World!” he added.

A senior Iranian military official told state media that only nonmilitary vessels would be permitted to use the waterway, and only with permission from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy.

The US-Israel war on Iran, which started on February 28, has killed more than 3,000 people. During the conflict, Iran restricted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for global energy supplies through which a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas passes.

The United States later moved to blockade Iran’s ports in the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf after US-Iran talks in Pakistan failed to produce a breakthrough on Sunday.

Trump maintains pressure on Iran

Reporting from Washington, DC, Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher said, “The chances of the US lifting the naval blockade were never particularly high, as the Trump administration sees that as a way of putting more pressure on Iran.”

Fisher said Trump’s central demand is that Iran give up any path to nuclear weapons. “If Iran does give that assurance, what will they get in return? It’s the big question. They’ll want to know that if they give something quite significant, they’re getting something in return.”

Later on Friday, Trump told the AFP news agency that there were “no sticking points” left in negotiations to end the war with Iran, saying an agreement was “very close”.

He also told Reuters that the US would work with Iran to recover its enriched uranium and return it to the United States as part of any deal.

“The U.S.A. will get all Nuclear ‘Dust,’ created by our great B2 Bombers – No money will exchange hands in any way, shape, or form,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, following an Axios report that Washington was considering a $20bn cash-for-uranium exchange.

Earlier on Friday, Iran’s state media outlet Mizan said no discussions had been held on the question of Iran’s enriched uranium.

“No negotiation regarding the transfer of Iran’s highly enriched uranium to America had ever taken place, and naturally, there is no agreement on this matter, either,” it said, citing sources.

Israel ‘prohibited’ from bombing Lebanon

Meanwhile, Trump said on Friday that Israel would no longer bomb Lebanon, and that any US deal with Iran would not depend on events in Lebanon.

“Israel will not be bombing Lebanon any longer. They are PROHIBITED from doing so by the U.S.A. Enough is enough!!!” he declared in a social media post.

A spokesperson for the United Nations peacekeepers in the south said Friday that no air attacks had been observed since midnight, but accused the Israeli military of violating airspace and carrying out artillery shelling in southern Lebanon.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment. Under the agreement shared by the US Department of State, Israel may respond in self-defence to imminent attacks, but it cannot launch offensive operations against southern Lebanon.

Mairav Zonszein, a senior Israel analyst with the International Crisis Group, told Al Jazeera that direct talks between Lebanon and Israel marked an important step, though the chances of those discussions evolving into a more durable settlement remain slim.

“Nevertheless, a diplomatic track that strengthens the Lebanese government and sees a gradual withdrawal of Israeli presence will contribute to weakening Hezbollah politically,” Zonszein said.