![\"This](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/4JRDRVK_AFP__20220924__32JZ9TY__v2__HighRes__SpaceMideastGulf_jpg.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nBy Humeyra Pamuk, Saad Sayeed and Aziz Taher, Reuters<\/p>\n
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\nThis handout photo released by NASA and taken on 8 April, 2021 by the Expedition 64 crew from the International Space Station shows a view of the Strait of Hormuz.
\nPhoto: AFP PHOTO \/NASA\/HANDOUT\n<\/p>\n
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said the Strait of Hormuz was open following the agreement of a ceasefire in Lebanon<\/a>, while US President Donald Trump said he believed a deal to end the Iran war would come “soon”, although the timing remains unclear.<\/p>\n Araqchi said in a post on X the Strait was open for all commercial vessels for the remainder of the US-brokered 10-day truce between Israeli forces and Iran-backed Hezbollah agreed on Thursday (all times local) between Israel and Lebanon.<\/p>\n A senior Iranian official told Reuters that transit would be through designated lanes that Iran deemed safe for navigation and would exclude naval vessels.<\/p>\n The US-Israeli conflict with Iran, which started on 28 February, has killed thousands of people and destabilised the Middle East. The conflict also effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas usually transits, threatening the worst oil shock in history.<\/p>\n \nIranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi. Oil prices tumble, stocks jump<\/p>\n Oil prices fell by 11 percent, extending earlier losses, following Araqchi’s post. Stocks around the world, which had already been trading around record highs, jumped further on the news.<\/p>\n Major shipping companies reacted more cautiously, signalling it may take more time for traffic through the chokepoint to return to normal levels, which was about 130 ships a day prior to the war.<\/p>\n German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd said it would refrain from passing through the Strait while it assessed the announcement and the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association said several factors needed to be clarified, including the possible presence of sea mines.<\/p>\n The International Monetary Fund this week lowered its forecasts for global growth and warned the global economy risked tipping into recession if the conflict was prolonged, mainly due to the impact from the closure of the strait.<\/p>\n US blockade remains in place<\/p>\n Shortly after Araqchi’s statement, Trump posted on Truth Social: “IRAN HAS JUST ANNOUNCED THAT THE STRAIT OF IRAN IS FULLY OPEN AND READY FOR PASSAGE.”<\/p>\n However, Trump said the US military blockade<\/a> of ships sailing through the Strait to Iranian ports – announced after talks with Iran last weekend in the Pakistani capital Islamabad ended without agreement – remained in place.<\/p>\n He said that blockade would remain in full force until “our transaction with Iran is 100% complete”, which he said should happen very quickly given that most points were already negotiated.<\/p>\n Trump had said on Thursday that talks could happen as soon as this weekend, although that was looking increasingly unlikely by Friday afternoon given the logistics of assembling officials in Islamabad, where the talks are expected to take place.<\/p>\n \nUS President Donald Trump said the US military blockade of ships sailing through the Strait to Iranian ports remained in place. Despite Trump’s optimism, Iranian sources told Reuters on Friday that some “gaps remained to be resolved” before reaching a preliminary deal and senior clerics leading Friday prayers struck a defiant tone.<\/p>\n In a sermon in Tehran, cleric Ahmad Khatami said: “Our people do not negotiate while being humiliated,” while in the central city of Isfahan, the imam said: “We did not accept the terms proposed by the other party.”<\/p>\n In Islamabad, troops were seen along routes leading into the capital on Friday, but roads were still open and the government had not issued orders for businesses to shut down, as they did prior to the last meeting.<\/p>\n Backdoor diplomacy progress<\/p>\n A Pakistani source involved in mediating between the US and Iran said on Friday there was progress in backdoor diplomacy and that an upcoming meeting between the two sides could result in the signing of a memorandum of understanding, followed by a comprehensive deal within 60 days.<\/p>\n “Both sides are agreeing in principle. And technical bits come later,” the source said on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n A senior Iranian official told Reuters there had been an agreement on unfreezing billions of dollars in Iranian assets, as part of the accord to reopen the Strait, without giving a timeline. One of the key sticking points has been over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, with the US proposing at last weekend’s talks a 20-year suspension of all Iranian nuclear activity. Tehran suggested a halt of three to five years, according to people familiar with the proposals.<\/p>\n Iran has demanded international sanctions on it be lifted and Washington has pressed for any highly enriched uranium to be removed from Iran. Two Iranian sources have said there were signs of a compromise on the HEU stockpile, with Tehran considering shipping part of it out of the country.<\/p>\n![\"Iran's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/4KCO5L0_AFP__20131204__Nic6257338__v1002__HighRes__IranUnDay_jpg.jpeg\")
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\nPhoto: AFP \/ Atta Kenare\n<\/p>\n![\"US](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/4JQHWF3_AFP__20260406__A6W29VD__v1__HighRes__UsPresidentDonaldTrumpHoldsPresserAmidIranWar_jpg.jpeg\")
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\nPhoto: KENT NISHIMURA\n<\/p>\n