Iran war live: Hormuz Strait shut down again over US ‘piracy’, says Tehran

By Heba Habib and Stephen Quillen

Published On 18 Apr 202618 Apr 2026

• Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp says control of the Strait of Hormuz has now “returned to its previous state” because of the US’s continuing blockade of Iranian ports.
• US President Donald Trump says the naval blockade will “remain in full force” until “our transaction with Iran is 100% complete”.
• Earlier Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the strait is “completely open” to all commercial vessels, “in line with the ceasefire in Lebanon” and “on the coordinated route as already announced”.
• Trump said Israel is “prohibited” from bombing Lebanon as the first day of a 10-day ceasefire in the country saw tens of thousands of people return to homes they were forced to flee during weeks of Israeli attacks.

9m ago

 (09:30 GMT)

US blockade on Iranian ports may be a ‘miscalculation’

The IRGC’s latest message about the Strait of Hormuz shows that Iran intends to keep leveraging control of the waterway as a “threat” while the US continues to blockade Iranian ports, said Mohamed Elmasry, media studies professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies.

“The situation is fluid and dynamic. We’re not getting total clarity,” Elmasry told Al Jazeera.

“In some ways, this is not surprising given what was said and done yesterday from the US. It was a confusing set of messages.

“I think already we’re seeing that this was perhaps a miscalculation by the US to maintain its blockade on Iranian ports. Iran is interpreting this as a violation of whatever arrangement that was worked out,” he added.

“These negotiations that Trump is talking about and playing up in very positive terms … there’s a real chance that could all blow into thin air if the US overplays its hand.”

20m ago

 (09:20 GMT)

Ships sail cautiously through Strait of Hormuz as confusion persists

By Malik Traina

Reporting from Kuwait City, Kuwait

For a lot of these tankers and vessels this is a race against time. Many have been stuck or stranded in the Strait of Hormuz for weeks. In the last couple of hours, we have seen several vessels crossing through. Various flagged vessels from Angola, Panama and Vietnam.

We are seeing a lot of chatter from marine monitors noting that most of these ships are sanctioned vessels, and they are identifying a pattern there. Whether or not they will be stopped by the US naval blockade, which we believe is positioned near the Gulf of Oman, remains to be seen. Most, if not all, of the vessels have gone through the designated pathway announced by the Revolutionary Guard, because commercial companies are afraid of sea mines.

We have also seen, for the first time since this war began, a cruise ship pass through the Strait of Hormuz. The Maltese-flagged cruise ship Celestial Discovery had been stranded in Dubai for 47 days. It has just passed through the strait, believed to be empty, and is said to be making a stopover in Muscat before continuing its journey.

But there is deep confusion within the commercial shipping industry. Nobody knows whether the strait is truly open or not. The Iranians said it was open, and we saw more than a dozen vessels yesterday make their way toward the strait only to turn back around just hours later. Companies are very confused, and many are simply not taking the risk.