Iran announces full opening of Strait of Hormuz during ceasefire
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi announced on Friday that commercial and shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz will be fully opened during the ceasefire period.
“Given the ceasefire in Lebanon, traffic for all commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz is declared fully open for the remaining duration of the ceasefire,” Araghchi stated via social media platform X, as monitored in Jakarta.
The Iranian Foreign Minister said that the opened shipping route is in accordance with coordination as announced by the authorities of the ports and maritime affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
In response to Iran’s announcement, US President Donald Trump expressed appreciation for Tehran’s decision.
“Iran has just announced that the Iranian Strait is fully open and ready for full traffic. Thank you!” Trump said in his post on the Truth Social platform, referring to the Strait of Hormuz as the “Iranian Strait”.
However, shortly afterwards, President Trump posted again on Truth Social stating that his side would continue the blockade on Iranian ports until negotiations with the country are fully completed.
“The sea blockade will remain fully in place against Iran until the time when transactions with Iran are 100 percent completed,” Trump said in that subsequent post.
Nevertheless, Trump is optimistic that the measure will not last long, given that “most of the negotiation points have been negotiated”.
The US and Iran held the first round of negotiations on Saturday (11/4) in Islamabad, Pakistan, after President Trump announced that an agreement had been reached with Tehran regarding a two-week ceasefire.
However, on Sunday morning (12/4), US Vice President J. D. Vance, as head of the US delegation, stated that Iran and the US failed to reach an agreement in those negotiations and the US delegation returned without results.
Following the failure of the initial negotiations, Trump deployed the US Navy to blockade the Strait of Hormuz.
Meanwhile, according to Axios reporting cited by RIA Novosti, the second round of negotiations between the US and Iran will take place in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Sunday (19/4).
Then on Thursday, Trump announced that Israel and Lebanon had agreed to begin a 10-day ceasefire following talks between the Lebanese and Israeli delegations mediated by the US in Washington DC.