Iran declares Strait of Hormuz closed after warning shot hits vessel

Dubai,UPDATED: Jul 12, 2026 05:32 IST

Iran said on Saturday that it once again considers the Strait of Hormuz closed after a vessel using an unauthorised route was hit by a warning shot in the crucial waterway, further straining the already fragile ceasefire with the United States. The White House and US military did not immediately comment on the closure or say whether any American response could follow.

The announcement came after the foreign ministers of Iran and Oman met to discuss the strait, following days of Iranian attacks on ships and US retaliation that weakened the interim deal meant to end the war. Hours later, Iran's new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not been seen in public since the war began, vowed revenge for the killing of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in the war's opening strikes on February 28, while US President Donald Trump threatened more missile attacks.

Oman said it and Iran had agreed to continue discussions on the Strait of Hormuz "at the technical and political levels". The move came a day after the United States called on Iran to publicly say that the waterway remains open and that ships would not be attacked. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he had met his Omani counterpart to discuss "appropriate mechanisms for ensuring the safe passage of ships".

For decades, the world has treated the strait as an international waterway. Since the war began, Iran has insisted that the passage should remain under its control and that it should be allowed to charge ships moving through it. The US has urged mariners to use a southern route through Oman's territorial waters. Before the war, about a fifth of all traded oil and natural gas passed through the strait. Iran's control of the route during the conflict triggered a global energy crisis, although oil prices have fallen sharply from wartime highs of USD 120 a barrel.

Araghchi also accused Washington of breaking the interim deal after it ended waivers that had allowed Iran to sell crude oil on the open market in US dollars. The United States said it withdrew the waivers in response to the attacks on ships in the strait. "Reality check: There can only be mutual compliance," Araghchi wrote on X.

In a social media post overnight, Trump said, "A thousand missiles are Locked and Loaded and aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran, with thousands more to immediately follow, should the Iranian Government act on its threat." He said he was responding to threats "to assassinate, or attempt to assassinate" him. During Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's funeral, mourners carried posters and banners calling for Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be killed. Trump has declared the ceasefire over, but said the US would continue negotiations.

US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity on Friday, said the renewed strikes in recent days followed what they described as a rogue faction of Iranian hard-liners trying to sabotage the ceasefire. Iran has said its system remains united under the new supreme leader. After the US completed its latest strikes on Thursday, more attacks were reported in Iran, raising questions over who else might be targeting the country. Israel did not claim responsibility for those strikes, meaning Gulf Arab states may have carried them out, likely to deter Iran from attacking them again. Iran had earlier retaliated for US strikes by targeting Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait and Qatar.

Over two days, the strikes in Iran killed at least 17 people and wounded 115 others, according to Iranian Health Ministry spokesperson Hossein Kermanpour. The latest developments left the ceasefire under further pressure, even as Iran and Oman agreed to keep talking about the future of the Strait of Hormuz.

With PTI Inputs

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