Comments from Iranian officials Saturday emphasized the Islamic Republic’s intention to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed in the face of American military pressure.
The Strait will reopen once the U.S. “accepts [Iran’s] conditions” and “abandons its interventionist approach,” according to General Hossein Mohebbi, the spokesperson for Iran’s IRGC, per comments reported in Tasnim News Agency.
The reopening of the Strait of Hormuz is “completely independent” of recent bilateral negotiations between Iran and Oman over the administration of the waterway.
At a press conference on Saturday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that Iran’s conditions to reopen the Strait of Hormuz include U.S. compensation for alleged violations of the June 17 MoU.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Friday that the Strait of Hormuz “is never going back to the way it was,” before adding that “what we are going to see over the next two years, the Strait is going to become irrelevant,” predicting that “more than 50 or 70 percent of the energy that moves through the strait now is going to go through underground pipelines.”
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Gulf states condemned a reported Iranian missile attack Saturday in the strait against a UAE-flagged tanker affiliated with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company.
Houthi attacks, which the group alleged had targeted Yemen’s government forces, on Friday killed at least two people in civilian areas and displacement camps. The Houthis attributed their “large number” of attacks to escalating tensions with Saudi Arabia. Following the attacks, forces aligned with Yemen’s government announced military operations against the Houthis.
Brent crude oil closed Friday at $83.56 per barrel. AAA reported the national average price of regular gas at $4.02 per gallon.
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