Oil tankers pass through Strait of Hormuz as peace deal ‘close’: live

The Strait of Hormuz has again been closed to international shipping, Iran has said.

State broadcaster IRIB confirmed in the last few minutes the shipping route, which sees 20 per cent of global oil and gas pass through it each year, is ‘closed’ and any passage requires approval from Tehran.

Iran had earlier allowed a convoy of ships to pass for the first time since the outbreak of the conflict.

But after it became clear the US was continuing a blockade against Iranian ships, Tehran has once again implemented the closure, a spokesperson said.

For this reason, control of the Strait of Hormuz has returned to its previous state, and this strategic strait is under the strict management and control of the armed forces.

As long as the United States does not end the complete freedom of passage of vessels from Iran to destination and from destination to Iran, the situation in the Strait of Hormuz will remain under strict control and in its previous state.

President Donald Trump has asked if Americans are ‘sick of winning’ after the US declared ‘victory’ over Iran.

Sharing a clip of himself at a rally, in which he spoke about winning, he wrote: ‘ANYONE SICK OF WINNING YET?’

Earlier, he had described the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz as a ‘great victory’ in a phone call with USA Today and declared the dispute over the shipping lane to be ‘over’.

Overnight Trump shared a series of posts about the strait in which he claimed China’s President Xi was also ‘very happy’ about the development.

Mediators in the conflict between the US and Iran are working ‘very hard’ to find a final peace agreement, it was said today.

It is hoped a deal could be reached ‘in the coming days’.

Egypt’s foreign minister said Egypt and Pakistan are working ‘very hard’ as mediators to bring about ‘a final agreement between the United States and Iran’, as he attended an Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Turkey.

‘We hope to do so (reach an agreement) in the coming days,’ Badr Abdelatty said, noting that ‘not only us in the region, but the whole world is suffering from the continuation of this war’.

‘We are pushing very hard in order to move forward,’ he said.

US President Donald Trump’s administration has issued a month-long sanctions waiver allowing the sale of Russian oil and petroleum products that are at sea, extending an earlier move to soften surging energy prices.

The license, issued by the Treasury Department, comes two days after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that Washington would not renew the waiver.

The latest move allows for the purchase of oil and petroleum products that have been loaded onto any vessel as of Friday, until 12:01am (0401 GMT) on May 16.

It prolongs an earlier easing of sanctions that expired on April 11.

The measure is aimed to ease global supply shocks from the US-Israeli war against Iran.

UN peacekeepers are patrolling the streets of Lebanon after a ten-day ceasefire agreement was reached on Thursday.

The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has led to the deaths of almost 2,300 people and has displaced more than one million.

Earlier, Iran indicated that its agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz was directly tied to the ceasefire agreement.

Regardless, that now appears to have been blown out of the water after Tehran announced the resumption of ‘strict controls’ in the shipping lane.

The head of Iran’s National Security Committee has gloated about the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, telling the US: ‘We warned you!’

Ibrahim Azizi took to social media in the last few moments, writing:

We warned you, but you didn’t pay attention! Now enjoy the return of the Strait of Hormuz situation to its previous state.

Iran says it has shut the Strait of Hormuz once more after the US refused to lift what Tehran describes as a naval blockade of its ports, as Donald Trump warned he could ‘start dropping bombs again’ if the fragile ceasefire breaks down.

The dramatic move comes just hours after Iran declared the key waterway ‘completely open’ and a convoy of eight oil tankers passed through the Strait, according to vessel tracking data.

Speaking as the truce edges towards expiry next week, Trump said he is still weighing whether to extend it, warning military action remains on the table if talks fail.

‘I think it’s gonna happen,’ he said of the ceasefire, while also suggesting the US could resume strikes.

Tehran had earlier warned it could shut the Strait again if Washington continues what it calls a blockade of Iranian ports, raising fresh fears over the vital global trade route.

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The US and Iran have claimed contradictory stances on the key sticking point in talks to achieve a long-lasting peace deal – Tehran’s nuclear programme.

Differences remain over the issue, with Iran defending its right to what it says is a civilian nuclear energy program.

Yesterday, President Trump said that Iran has agreed to the removal of its stockpiles of enriched uranium.

But Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told state TV the material would not be transferred anywhere.

Speaking on Air Force One overnight, President Trump told reporters:

We’re negotiating over the weekend. I expect things to go well. Many of these things have been negotiated and agreed to.

The main thing is that Iran will not have a nuclear weapon. You cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon, and that supersedes everything else.

Iran’s military has claimed that the Strait of Hormuz has ‘returned to its previous state’ of ‘strict control’ due to the US continuing to turn around ships leaving its ports.

In a statement, a spokesperson said:

The Islamic Republic of Iran, following previous agreements in negotiations, has agreed in good faith to the managed passage of a limited number of oil tankers and commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz.

Unfortunately, the Americans… continue… the so-called blockade.

For this reason, control of the Strait of Hormuz has returned to its previous state, and this strategic strait is under the strict management and control of the armed forces.

As long as the United States does not end the complete freedom of passage of vessels from Iran to destination and from destination to Iran, the situation in the Strait of Hormuz will remain under strict control and in its previous state.

It is not immediately clear if this means the strait is now closed to all traffic.

British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has said the Strait of Hormuz had yet to return to normal operations despite a ceasefire in the Iran war.

Earlier, traffic map data showed the first convoy of ships appearing to pass through the strait since the beginning of the conflict.

At a diplomacy forum in Antalya, Turkey, Cooper urged Tehran to allow global shipping to resume fully.

We are at a critical diplomatic moment with a ceasefire now in place … but we don’t yet have normal passage through the strait.

She said the truce needed to develop into a lasting peace, adding that restoring shipping through the waterway was urgent for the global economy.

Transatlantic relations between Britain and the US are in the middle of an ‘extraordinary moment’, the UK’s ambassador in Washington has said, amid heightened tensions over the Iran war.

Speaking at an event in Washington against a backdrop of fierce criticism of Sir Keir Starmer by President Trump, Sir Christian Turner argued the long-standing partnership was pragmatic rather than one of nostalgia, to the benefit of both countries.

He said:

We’re in the middle of this extraordinary moment, geopolitically, geoeconomically, and indeed for the transatlantic relationship.

It is, of course, all relative – 250 years ago we had a small disagreement. We were in the midst of a dispute back then.

To our credit, we’ve only tried to burn down the White House once since, and what began in that moment of tension has been forged into one of the deepest and closest alliances in history.”

I like to think it’s a pragmatic partnership. It’s not one based in backwards looking and nostalgia.

It’s looking forwards as it really secures security and prosperity for both Britons and Americans alike.