Iran reversed course on reopening the strategic waterway, warning it would continue to block transit as long as the U.S. blockade of ships from Iranian ports remained in effect.

 

Iran War Live Updates: Iran Declares Strait of Hormuz Closed Again as Ships Report Attacks

Iran reversed course on reopening the strategic waterway, warning it would continue to block transit as long as the U.S. blockade of ships from Iranian ports remained in effect.

 

Lynsey Chutel Euan Ward Leily Nikounazar and Somini Sengupta

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/04/19/world/iran-us-war-trump-hormuz

 

Here’s the latest.

Conditions in the Strait of Hormuz remained volatile early Sunday after Iran said it was once again closing the vital waterway and two ships reported coming under attack.

 

Just a day earlier, Iran’s military had declared the strait open to commercial ships after the start of cease-fire between Israel and Lebanon. But Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said Saturday that the strait would shut down in retaliation for President Trump’s decision to leave in place a U.S. blockade on ships from Iranian ports.

 

The instability seemed to already be affecting vessels moving through the narrow passage, a conduit for a significant share of the world’s energy.

 

On Saturday, India summoned the Iranian ambassador over what it called “a serious incident” involving two Indian-flagged ships that came under fire. TankerTrackers.com, which monitors oil shipments, said two such vessels sailing through the strait had turned around.

 

A Royal Navy-run shipping monitor, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, said it had received a report that one tanker had come under fire from two Iranian gunships. Another vessel, a container ship, was hit by an “unknown projectile,” it said.

 

Even as tensions flared in the waterway, the two sides maintained a cease-fire agreement reached last week, while Iran said it was reviewing new U.S. proposals submitted through Pakistan, which hosted peace talks last weekend.

 

Late Saturday, Iran’s Parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said Washington and Tehran had made some progress but remained far from a final agreement. In a speech on state television, he portrayed the cease-fire as a victory for his country and emphasized its “control over the strait.”

 

Here’s what else we are covering:

 

Lebanon: Thousands of displaced Lebanese families began making their way back home to Lebanon’s south after a 10-day cease-fire went into effect Friday, and there was heavy traffic again Saturday.

 

Hezbollah: The head of Hezbollah, Naim Qassem, said Saturday it was willing to cooperate with the Lebanese authorities to end the war with Israel and laid out a series of conditions for a lasting truce, including a withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon.

 

Energy crisis: Even if the Strait of Hormuz opened fully, it would take weeks for oil and gas prices to recover.