President Donald Trump accused Iran of violating a ceasefire agreement Sunday after gunfire was directed at foreign vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, including ships linked to France and the United Kingdom.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said Iran “decided to fire bullets yesterday in the Strait of Hormuz — a total violation of our ceasefire agreement.”
Trump said U.S. representatives are headed to Islamabad, Pakistan, for negotiations, while dismissing Iran’s announcement that it was closing the strait. Trump said a U.S. naval blockade had already shut the waterway and said Iran was losing about $500 million a day as a result.
“They’re helping us without knowing,” he wrote, adding that oil tankers are instead heading to U.S. ports in Texas, Louisiana and Alaska.
The president warned of sweeping military action if negotiations collapse.
“We’re offering a very fair and reasonable deal,” Trump wrote, but added that if Iran refuses, the U.S. would “knock out every single power plant, and every single bridge, in Iran,” declaring, “No more Mr. Nice Guy.”
Iran says US blockade violates Pakistan‑mediated ceasefire
Iran’s foreign ministry said the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports violates a ceasefire mediated by Pakistan and constitutes an act of aggression under international law.
In a statement posted on X, spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said the blockade breaches the U.N. Charter and amounts to collective punishment of the Iranian population, calling it unlawful and criminal.
Standoff escalates after Iran closes Strait of Hormuz over US blockade
Iran reversed its decision to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and warned that it would continue to block transit through the strait as long as the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports remained in effect.
Iran’s parliamentary Speaker Mohammed Bagher Qalibaf says the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed as long as the U.S. imposes a naval blockade on Iran.
“It is impossible for others to pass through the Strait of Hormuz while we cannot,” he said in televised comments aired by Iranian semiofficial media late Saturday.
Qalibaf, who is Iran’s chief negotiator with the United States, said that the strait is now under Iran’s control, linking the choke point’s reopening to the U.S. lifting of its blockade.
“If the U.S. does not lift the blockade, traffic in the Strait of Hormuz will definitely be restricted,” he said.
He said that the ceasefire was on verge of collapse when the U.S. attempted to mine-clear the strait.
He said Iran viewed the U.S. attempt as a violation of the ceasefire.
“The situation escalated to the point of conflict but the enemy retreated,” he said.
The escalating standoff over the critical choke point threatened to deepen the energy crisis roiling the global economy and push the two countries toward renewed conflict, even as mediators expressed confidence that a new deal was within reach.
The strait is closed until the U.S. blockade is lifted, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard navy said Saturday night. Hours earlier, two gunboats from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard opened fire on a tanker transiting the Strait of Hormuz, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said. It reported that the tanker and crew were safe, without identifying the vessel or its destination.
Roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil passes through the strait and further limits would squeeze the already constrained supply, driving prices higher once again. Meanwhile, a 10-day truce between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon appeared to be holding.
Iran wants ‘lasting peace,’ chief negotiator says
Iran’s chief negotiator says his country wants “a lasting peace so that war is not repeated again.”
Qalibaf made the comments in a televised interview late Saturday, a few days before a ceasefire deadline is set to expire, according to Iranian state media.
“What is fundamental for us is distrust of the United States,” he said. “At the same time, we have good intentions and seek a lasting peace — one that prevents the recurrence of war.”
He said that the Islamabad negotiations didn’t address the mistrust, but that the U.S. and Iranian negotiators “reached a more realistic understanding of one another.”
He said that the two sides achieved progress in the Islamabad talks, but disagreement remained on some key issues, including the nuclear program and the Strait of Hormuz.
“The gaps remain wide and some fundamental issues are still unresolved,” he said. NewsNation/AP