Iran foreign minister says Strait of Hormuz ‘completely open’

Iran has said the Strait of Hormuz is “completely open” for all commercial vessels and will remain so during the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire, as United States President Donald Trump said an agreement 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 said in a post 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.

The passage of ⁠vessels through the ⁠strait will be on the coordinated route as ⁠already announced by ⁠the Ports and ⁠Maritime Organisation of Iran, Araghchi added.

Following Araghchi’s announcement, oil prices fell below $90 a barrel. International benchmark Brent crude futures fell to $87.94 a barrel, down 11.5 percent on the day. US crude fell a similar amount to $83.33 a barrel.

Trump confirmed in a social media post that the strait was “completely open and ready for business and full passage”, though he went on to add that the US naval blockade of Iran would “remain in full force” until Iran reached a deal with the US to end the war.