Uncertainty over the Strait of Hormuz remained on Sunday, a day after the U.S. and Iranian militaries offered conflicting accounts over whether the waterway was open to ships.<\/p>\n
Maritime analysts observed a drop in the number of vessels passing through the strait on Sunday, according to the extremely limited data available, but the cause was not known. The crucial waterway for oil and gas shipping has emerged as one of the most contentious issues in U.S.-Iran talks aimed at eventually ending the war.<\/p>\n
President Trump told a Fox News reporter on Sunday that he had spoken with unidentified Iranian officials overnight and warned them not to close the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou close it and you won\u2019t have a country,\u201d Fox News quoted the president as telling the officials, as Vice President JD Vance led an American delegation in meetings with Iranian officials in Switzerland for a new round of talks.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s military said on Saturday that it was closing the waterway, which had been the conduit for a fifth of the world\u2019s oil supply before the war began in late February. The military accused the United States of breaching the preliminary cease-fire deal signed last week, by failing to restrain Israel\u2019s military actions against Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group, in Lebanon.<\/p>\n
The naval wing of Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps warned any ships approaching the strait that they were putting their security at risk.<\/p>\n
But hours later, U.S. Central Command said the strait was open. \u201cIran does not control the Strait of Hormuz. Traffic continues to flow, and U.S. forces are monitoring the situation to ensure this remains the case,\u201d said Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesman for the command.<\/p>\n
According to ship tracking data, which is limited to ships with their transponders switched on, it appeared that vessels had stopped trying to navigate through the strait\u2019s northerly route since the latest Iranian threat on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe situation remains fraught,\u201d said Daniel Mueller, a senior analyst at the maritime intelligence firm Ambrey, on Sunday. \u201cThe Iranians are maintaining the strait is closed again, though there have been no attacks.\u201d<\/p>\n