Iran rejects Trump’s claim of agreement to reopen Strait of Hormuz

Iran’s regime-linked Fars news agency said on Sunday that there is no agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and that the waterway will stay closed while the United States continues what it described as hostile actions. The agency quoted a senior Iranian military source saying ships could only pass through a designated route with authorization from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy.

President Donald Trump announced earlier that day that he had called off a planned strike after Iran and other regional states asked Washington to hold fire, and that the basic parameters of a possible deal had been settled. He wrote on his social-media platform that the United States was “locked and loaded” but would cancel the attack in exchange for an “immediate, complete, and total opening” of the strait and an end to Iran’s nuclear threat. Trump also claimed Israel had agreed to refrain from action, though Israel has not confirmed the statement.

No details of the alleged agreement have been released. Iran’s IRGC commander Ali Abdollahi warned that the United States was moving toward a wider war, and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran could target energy facilities in Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar if attacked. Araghchi also spoke with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan about what Tehran called U.S. and Israeli “plots and attacks” in the region, emphasizing that any military action would meet a decisive response.

U.S. officials said no final order for a strike had been issued, though military options were under review after an attempted Iranian attack on a U.S. base in Jordan and ongoing disruptions to shipping in the strait. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman reportedly warned Trump that strikes on Iranian energy sites could provoke retaliation against Gulf oil and gas infrastructure, while Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Pakistan called for de-escalation and renewed negotiations.