Iran Says Hormuz Will Remain Closed Until U.S. Meets Its Conditions

Iran said on Tuesday that the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed unless the United States ends the war and meets Tehran’s conditions, raising the bar for a deal that would restore oil traffic through the key waterway.

Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said Washington must end the conflict and unfreeze Iranian funds held overseas before Tehran would agree to reopen the strait.

Iran has also delivered additional conditions to the United States through mediators, Rezaei said in comments carried by the semi-official Tasnim news agency. He did not publicly identify those demands.

The comments complicate expectations that a shipping agreement could be reached quickly. U.S. officials had suggested last week that negotiations involving Iran and Oman were making progress towards allowing more vessels through the Strait of Hormuz.

Brent crude moved higher on Tuesday, with the October contract trading at $88.70 a barrel shortly after 1 p.m. ET, up 98 cents, or 1.12%.

The market has spent weeks reacting to signs that shipping through the Persian Gulf could normalize, even as actual tanker traffic has remained constrained and commercial vessels continue to face security risks.

Iran has previously discussed conditions that would give it greater control over inbound traffic through Hormuz and greater visibility over outbound vessels. Tehran has also insisted that any agreement recognise its security interests in the waterway.

The latest demands make clear that Iran is tying the shipping issue directly to the broader war rather than treating Hormuz as a separate maritime problem.

Rezaei’s comments leave the next move with Washington. Ending the war and releasing frozen Iranian funds would represent substantially bigger concessions than simply agreeing on shipping rules, and Tehran says the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until those demands are addressed.