The brief window of calm in the global energy market slammed shut on Saturday as Iran re-established a tight grip on the Strait of Hormuz, walking back Friday’s declarations that the vital waterway was open to international traffic.
Despite President Trump’s announcement of a diplomatic breakthrough, the Iranian military issued a fresh statement asserting that the strait is now “under strict control” and has “returned to its previous state.”
This reversal follows a chaotic 24-hour period of conflicting signals. On Friday, Iran’s foreign minister described the passage as “completely open,” prompting President Trump to announce a major milestone in negotiations for a permanent ceasefire.
However, the optimism was short-lived. By Saturday morning, the British navy’s shipping monitor reported that Iranian Revolutionary Guards had fired at a tanker within the strait, signaling a return to the hostilities that have choked global energy supplies for over a month.
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The diplomatic friction appears rooted in a standoff over existing blockades. Tehran maintains that the waterway will remain restricted unless the United States lifts its own blockade of Iranian ports. Conversely, President Trump stated that the American naval presence would continue until a comprehensive deal is finalized to end the war, which began in late February.
The confusion extends to the negotiating table. While the president told CBS in a phone interview that Iran had “agreed to everything,” Iran’s lead negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, flatly denied those claims, stating that no agreements had been reached regarding their adversaries’ core demands. As of Saturday morning, no official face-to-face talks had been scheduled for the weekend.
The impact of this volatility was felt immediately in the markets. Oil prices, which had plummeted to approximately $90 a barrel on Friday following the initial reopening news, faced renewed uncertainty as the blockade was reinstated.
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Analysts warn that even if the strait were to open permanently today, it would take weeks for Persian Gulf oil to stabilize global supplies and even longer to repair the regional energy infrastructure damaged during the conflict.
While the situation in the Strait of Hormuz remains tense, a separate 10-day ceasefire in Lebanon, which began Friday, appears to be holding.
Thousands of displaced families were seen traveling south on Saturday morning to return to their homes, marking a rare moment of humanitarian relief in a region otherwise gripped by the ongoing war between the United States, Israel, and Iran.
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