Despite ceasefire: Hormuz passage remains restricted + Kuwait, Emirates and Iran report attacks

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi announced the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, which is very important for global oil trade, as part of the ceasefire. Trump made this a condition of the ceasefire. In coordination with the Iranian armed forces and taking into account technical restrictions, shipping traffic in the strait should be enabled, Araqchi wrote in a statement.

Trump had recently said he was prepared to forego bombings and attacks on Iran for two weeks if Tehran opened the blocked Strait of Hormuz. This will be a mutual ceasefire, Trump announced on his Truth Social platform.

Shortly before the expiration of another ultimatum from Trump to Iran, the mediator urged Pakistan to postpone again. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif asked Trump on X to “extend the deadline by two weeks.” During this period, Iran should open the Strait of Hormuz for two weeks as a sign of goodwill. The USA and Iran first examined the proposal before Trump spoke up.

Israel, which has been waging war against Iran together with the USA since the end of February, apparently also wants to respect the ceasefire, according to sources from the Israeli broadcaster Kan. The ynet portal quoted sources according to which the ceasefire should also apply to Lebanon. There, Israel is taking massive action against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia.

Trump had threatened the leadership in Tehran with massive attacks on bridges and power plants if Iran did not open the Strait of Hormuz, through which around a fifth of the world’s oil and liquid gas transport passes. Shortly before the deadline at 8 p.m. Eastern time (Wednesday morning 2 a.m. CEST), Trump followed up on Tuesday and threatened Iran with the annihilation of its “entire civilization.” Trump originally issued his ultimatum to Iran on March 21st. After that, he kept extending it again and again. He gave contradictory information about the conditions. In addition to opening the Strait of Hormuz, he demanded that Iran commit to giving up its nuclear program.

According to the news portal Axios, a first round of official US-Iran negotiations will take place in Islamabad on Friday.