April 18, 2026
Iran reversed a brief reopening of the strategic Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, saying the waterway would be shuttered again while the United States maintains a naval blockade of Iranian ports. Tehran’s military framed the US blockade as a violation of the ceasefire understandings and said passage through the strait would depend on Iranian authorization.
The UK Maritime Trade Operations center reported that two gunboats linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard fired on a tanker about 20 nautical miles northeast of Oman; the ship and its crew were reported safe. The firing, the tanker’s captain told UKMTO, came without a prior radio challenge.
Iran’s new supreme leader vowed that Iran’s navy stood ready to inflict further defeats on adversaries, a statement that followed the decision to close the strait. Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned that the strait “will not remain open” if the blockade continues.
In Washington, President Donald Trump said the blockade would remain in place and warned he might not extend the ceasefire if a long-term deal with Iran is not reached by Wednesday. The administration renewed for about a month a waiver allowing purchases of sanctioned Russian oil at sea — a move Moscow welcomed as stabilizing for energy markets. The waiver excludes transactions involving Iran, Cuba, and North Korea and drew criticism from some US lawmakers.
Diplomatic efforts to de-escalate continued. Egypt said it and partners Turkey, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia were coordinating to try to secure a final US‑Iran agreement “in the coming days.” Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif concluded a regional diplomatic tour — including visits to Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey — aimed at mediating an end to the conflict; Pakistan has hosted talks between US and Iranian interlocutors. Turkey and other regional actors have also pressed for containment and a post‑war security framework.
Separately, Iran said it had partially reopened eastern air routes for international flights and reopened several airports, though flight-tracking sites showed limited visible activity hours after the announced reopening.
The broader region saw related tensions: Lebanon’s prime minister condemned an attack on French UNIFIL peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, and a UNIFIL spokesperson confirmed an incident in Ghandouriyeh without providing casualty details. The Israeli military said it had killed militants who crossed a de‑facto “yellow line” in southern Lebanon, a new reference to a demarcation since a recent ceasefire. Germany’s interior minister said the Iran‑US/Israel war had not produced a migration wave to Europe but that authorities remained cautious.
As crises in energy, diplomacy and security intersect, maritime traffic and global oil markets remain vulnerable to further disruption should the strait remain closed or fighting intensify.