Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Saturday it has closed the Strait of Hormuz in response to a continued blockade of Iranian ports by the United States, less than a day after the strategic waterway was reopened¹². The strait, through which 20 percent of globally traded oil transits, had been reopened to allow more than a dozen commercial ships to pass following a US-mediated 10-day ceasefire deal between Israel and Lebanon¹.

The IRGC navy said the strait will remain closed until the United States lifts its naval blockade on Iranian vessels and ports, calling the US actions "a violation of the ongoing ceasefire agreement in the US-Israel war on Iran"². The military statement warned that "no vessel of any kind should move from its anchorage in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, and approaching the Strait of Hormuz will be considered cooperation with the enemy, and the offending vessel will be targeted"².

Reports indicated Iranian gunboats fired at a merchant vessel as it attempted to cross the strait¹. Video footage showed Iranian military ordering an Indian ship to abort its passage of the waterway³.

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran's parliament speaker and a senior negotiator in talks between Washington and Tehran, said in a television interview that "the Strait of Hormuz is under the control of the Islamic Republic"². An IRGC statement described the US blockade of Iranian ports as "acts of piracy and maritime theft", adding that control over Hormuz is "under the strict management and control of the armed forces"¹.

Ghalibaf characterized the US naval blockade as "a clumsy and ignorant decision"². The IRGC said the control of the waterway has "returned to its previous state"¹.