Iran will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz until the United States meets all of its conditions
By Bernard Moerdler,
Iran will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz until the United States meets all of its conditions, even if Tehran and Muscat conclude their talks on the waterway, Supreme National Security Council secretary Mohsen Rezaei said today, according to the semi official Tasnim news agency. Rezaei said the conditions include an end to the war, including in Gaza and Lebanon, and the release of frozen Iranian assets. He took over as secretary of the council on Sunday, replacing Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, who set out Tehran's list of demands on Saturday, as we reported earlier. Rezaei commanded the Revolutionary Guards from 1981 to 1997.
President Trump said Monday that the strait is "open now" and that the U.S. Navy alone controls it, saying American forces have swept the waterway for mines. Trump also said in a post on Truth Social that he is demanding compensation from Iran for people killed and wounded in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Gaza, and for the 17 U.S. sailors killed aboard the USS Cole in 2000, and that his negotiators will carry the claim into any talks. Iran has made war reparations one of its own conditions.
Traffic through the strait continued to thin. MarineTraffic said Monday that confirmed crossings fell from 15 on Friday to 11 on Saturday and six on Sunday. Daily transits ran at roughly 130 to 140 vessels before the war, according to the analytics firm Kpler.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration raised its 2026 forecast for Brent crude today to an average of $87 a barrel, up from $82, citing constraints on transit through the strait and assuming those constraints persist through August. The agency also lifted its forecast for U.S. retail gasoline to $3.78 a gallon for the year, from $3.64. Brent traded near $89 a barrel this morning.
Topics: Iran, Strait of Hormuz, Lebanon & Hezbollah
Reported by Bernard Moerdler for Bernie News Network. See our editorial standards and corrections policy.