Iran says it has closed Hormuz again over US blockade

It warned that it would continue to block transit through the strait as long as the US blockade of Iranian ports remained in effect.The announcement came the morning after US President Donald Trump said that even after Iran announced the strait's reopening on Friday, the American blockade will remain in full force until Tehran reaches a deal with the US, including on its nuclear program.The conflict over the chokepoint threatened to deepen the energy crisis roiling the global economy after oil prices began to fall again on Friday on hopes the US and Iran were drawing closer to an agreement. Roughly one-fifth of the world's oil passes through the strait and further limits would squeeze already constrained supply, driving prices higher once again.Control over the strait has proven to be one Iran's main points of leverage and prompted the United States to deploy forces and initiate a blockade on Iranian ports as part of an effort to force Iran to accept a Pakistan-brokered ceasefire to end almost seven weeks of war that has raged between Israel, the US and Iran.Iran said it fully reopened the Strait of Hormuz to commercial vessels after a 10-day truce was announced between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon. An end to Israel's war with Hezbollah was a key demand of Iranian negotiators, who previously accused Israel of breaking last week's ceasefire with strikes on Lebanon. Israel had said that deal did not cover Lebanon.But after Trump said the blockade would continue, top Iranian officials said his announcement violated last week's ceasefire agreement between Iran and the US and warned the strait would not stay open if the US blockade remained in effect.A data firm, Kpler, said movement through the strait remained confined to corridors requiring Iran's approval.US forces have sent 21 ships back to Iran since the blockade began on Monday, US Central Command said on X.