Iran keeps the Strait of Hormuz shut as more tankers are hit

Iran’s parliament speaker, Qalibaf, said the Strait of Hormuz will not reopen until Iran’s conditions are satisfied⁵. The conditions number seven and were set out in a June interim agreement with the United States, according to Nournews^10,12. The Hindu described the same set as the seven conditions of the June Islamabad Memorandum¹¹. An Iranian statement said the position is completely clear and firm, and that the strait will not be opened until the seven conditions are met⁸. Washington fulfilling them is the stated requirement¹³.

Tehran is framing the waterway, not the nuclear file, as the centre of any settlement. Iran’s foreign ministry said securing the Strait of Hormuz, or restoring security to it, requires specific steps from the American side, and called the strait the main focus of talks to end the war⁴. Al Jazeera reported that reopening the strait has been Tehran’s main goal while the United States continues to focus on nuclear talks⁹. Reuters said Iran presented a proposal during the UN General Assembly under which the waterway could be reopened and normal maritime passage resume⁷.

Why it matters to investors

Shipping is being hit while the talks stall. The navy of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has targeted at least seven violating oil tankers in the strait in five days². A tanker sustained damage after an attack on its engine room, a maritime agency said³, and CNBC reported more tankers struck in Gulf waters as Iran reiterated its conditions⁶.

The United States is not treating the closure as Iran’s to lift alone. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the US blockade of the strait is ironclad and that Iran should make the right choice^14,15. Inside Iran the economic strain is severe: seven months into the war, inflation is almost 90% and pressure is building as the United States expands its military presence¹.

What to watch

The sources do not list the seven conditions, so the distance between the two positions cannot be measured from this reporting^8,10. Nor do they resolve whether a blockade described as American and a closure described as Iranian are the same obstruction seen from opposite sides^5,14.

Three markers. Whether the UN General Assembly proposal that Reuters describes is revived in any form⁷. Whether attacks on tankers continue at the recent pace, which is the practical measure of transit risk^2,6. And whether the American focus shifts from the nuclear file to the waterway, which Tehran says is the only route to a deal^4,9.