A top Iranian official on Wednesday said that it’s “impossible” to reopen the Strait of Hormuz amid what he claimed are ceasefire breaches, after its military seized ships in the strategic waterway.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of the Iranian parliament and a lead negotiator, wrote on Wednesday in a post on X that “reopening the Strait of Hormuz is impossible with such a flagrant breach of the ceasefire,” according to a translation into English from Farsi.
“A complete ceasefire only makes sense if it is not violated by the maritime blockade and the hostage-taking of the world’s economy,” he said, adding that “the only way forward is to recognize the rights of the Iranian nation.”
A day prior, U.S. President Donald Trump announced an extension of a two-week-long ceasefire with Iran and cited fractures in the ruling regime, allowing for Tehran to submit a proposal at a later time. Pakistani officials also told him that they requested the Trump administration to “hold our attack” against Iran until a unified proposal is submitted by the regime, he wrote on Truth Social.
In the meantime, the U.S. military would keep a naval blockade of Iran’s ports. The U.S. military seized a vessel traveling from China to Iran after it tried to bypass the blockade, Trump announced earlier this week. The ship ignored warnings to stop over a six-hour period in the Gulf of Oman, leading the American military to blow a hole in its engine room. The Pentagon on Tuesday also said U.S. forces boarded an Iran-linked ship in the Indian Ocean without incident.
The Pakistani prime minister’s office said on X that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held a meeting with Iranian Ambassador Reza Amiri Moghadam on Wednesday to talk about the peace efforts.
Since the announcement from Trump, Iranian officials have not confirmed whether any officials would attend peace talks with the United States. A previous round of talks held in Pakistan and led by Vice President JD Vance earlier this month resulted in no deal, prompting Trump to announce the U.S. naval blockade.
The seizure of one of the ships, the Panama-flagged MSC Francesca, was confirmed by Montenegro’s minister of maritime affairs, who said four Montenegrin seafarers were on board and that they and the rest of the crew were safe.
