CAIRO (AP) \u2014 The standoff over the Strait of Hormuz quickly escalated again Saturday as Iran reversed its reopening of the crucial waterway and fired on ships attempting to pass, in retaliation after the United States pressed ahead with its blockade choking off Iranian ports. <\/p>\n
Confusion over the strait, through which roughly one-fifth of the world\u2019s oil passes, threatened to deepen the energy crisis roiling the global economy and push the two countries toward renewed conflict. The ceasefire between them is due to run out by mid-next week, and Pakistani mediators were working to put together a new round of direct negotiations to keep the truce going.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s joint military command said Saturday that \u201ccontrol of the Strait of Hormuz has returned to its previous state … under strict management and control of the armed forces.\u201d It warned that it would continue to block transit through the strait as long as the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports remained in effect.<\/p>\n
Revolutionary Guard gunboats on Saturday opened fire on a tanker transiting the strait and an unknown projectile hit a container vessel, damaging some of the containers, the British military\u2019s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said without identifying the vessels. TankerTrackers.com reported that two Indian-flagged vessels were forced to turn around after being fired on by Iran, including a supertanker carrying Iraqi oil. <\/p>\n
The renewed escalation resulted from attempts by both sides to maintain leverage amid negotiations over an ultimate deal to end the war and address Iran\u2019s nuclear program<\/a>. <\/p>\n For the United States, the blockade is a key tool to keep up pressure on Iran, short of resuming bombardment. By cutting off much of Iran\u2019s exports and imports, it could strangle an already crippled economy. <\/p>\n For Iran, closure of the strait \u2014 imposed after the U.S. and Israel launched their surprise war on the country on Feb. 28 \u2014 has proven to be perhaps its most powerful weapon in the confrontation, causing oil prices to spike, threatening the world economy and inflicting political pain on Trump.<\/p>\n Progress threatens to unravel <\/p>\n On Friday, Iran announced the reopening of the strait to commercial vessels after a 10-day truce<\/a> was sealed between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group<\/a> in Lebanon. The reopening triggered a fall in oil prices. Iran\u2019s closure of the strait since has triggered an energy crisis that has roiled the global economy. <\/p>\n U.S. President Donald Trump, however, said that even with the reopening, the American blockade<\/a> \u201cwill remain in full force\u201d until Tehran reaches a deal with the U.S. Trump imposed the blockade, halting all shipping to and from Iranian ports as the ceasefire between Iran and the U.S<\/a> was announced last week to keep pressure on Iran to make a deal in Pakistan-brokered talks<\/a> to end almost seven weeks of war<\/a>.<\/p>\n His comments triggered immediate outcry from Iranian officials, calling the blockade a violation that would prompt a re-closure of the strait. <\/p>\n \u201cAmericans are risking the international community, risking the global economy through these, I can say, miscalculations,\u201d referring to the blockade, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh told the Associated Press on Saturday.<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody must understand to what extent American side is risking the whole ceasefire package,\u201d he said, speaking after a diplomatic forum in Antalya, Turkey.<\/p>\n Ebrahim Azizi, head of the Iranian parliament\u2019s National Security Commission, said that the strait was \u201creturning to the status quo,\u201d which he had earlier described as ships requiring Iranian naval authorization and toll payment before transiting. <\/p>\n A data firm, Kpler, said movement through the strait remained confined to corridors requiring Iran\u2019s approval.<\/p>\n U.S. forces have sent 21 ships back to Iran since the blockade began on Monday, U.S. Central Command said on X.<\/p>\n Pakistan pushing for progress toward new deal<\/p>\n The renewed standoff over the strait came hours after Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar told the forum in Antalya that his country\u2019s diplomats were working to \u201cbridge\u201d differences between the US. and Iran. <\/p>\n Pakistani officials were fanning out for talks with senior players. Its army chief met senior Iranian officials in Tehran while its prime minister held talks in Antalya with Turkey\u2019s president and Qatar\u2019s emir. Pakistan is expected to host a second round of negotiations between Iran and the U.S. early next week.<\/p>\n But Khatibzadeh said the Iranians were not ready for a new round of face-to-face talks with the U.S. because the Americans \u201chave not abandoned their maximalist position.\u201d <\/p>\n He also said Iran will not hand over its stock of 970 pounds (440 kilograms) of enriched uranium to the United States, calling the idea \u201ca non-starter.\u201d Khatibzadeh did not address other proposals for what to do with the material, saying only, \u201cwe are ready to address any concerns.\u201d <\/p>\n On Friday, Trump said the U.S. will go into Iran and \u201cget all the nuclear dust,\u201d referring to the enriched uranium, which is believed to be buried under nuclear sites badly damaged by U.S. military strikes last year. <\/p>\n Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei issued defiant remarks on Saturday, saying Iran\u2019s navy stands \u201cready to inflict bitter defeats on its enemies.\u201d<\/p>\n In a message celebrating the anniversary of the establishment of Iran\u2019s army, he hailed Iran\u2019s drone strikes that targeted Israel and the U.S. interests across the region during the past seven weeks of war. Khamenei has bot been seen in public since he was elevated to supreme leader after his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in Israel\u2019s opening barrage of the war on Feb. 28. <\/p>\n Questions linger about Lebanon truce<\/p>\n French President Emmanuel Macron said a French soldier was killed and three others injured on Saturday morning during an attack on U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon. \u201cEverything suggests that responsibility for this attack lies with Hezbollah,\u201d Macron wrote on social media.<\/p>\n There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah.<\/p>\n