Iran Says It Closed Strait of Hormuz Again Over US Blockade

Iran’s military said on April 18 it has reinstated “strict military oversight” over the Strait of Hormuz due to Washington’s ongoing naval blockade of Iranian shipping, signaling an apparent reversal to a brief reopening of the critical global oil transit chokepoint announced a day earlier by Iran’s foreign minister and clouding the delicate peace negotiations taking place in the background.

Lt. Col. Ebrahim Zolfaqari, spokesperson for Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, said in a statement published by Iran’s official IRNA news outlet and Iran’s state-run Press TV that the move was triggered by the continued U.S. naval blockade and what he described as repeated violations of prior understandings governing maritime traffic through the strait.