Iran vows to keep Hormuz closed until ‘end of American evils’

Tehran says it will maintain full control over the Strait of Hormuz no matter the cost, after US reimposes naval blockade.

By World Israel News Staff

Iran vowed Wednesday to maintain its control over the Strait of Hormuz regardless of the cost, as the United States resumed its blockade of Iranian ports and carried out another wave of strikes against military targets along the country’s southern coast.

Deputy Iranian Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said Tehran would not seek renewed negotiations under American military pressure, accusing Washington of derailing an interim agreement intended to reopen the strategic waterway and create a window for broader talks.

“We will never request negotiations with the US,” Gharibabadi said during an appearance on Iranian state television.

“We will exercise full sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, no matter the costs,” he added.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps separately declared that the strait would remain closed until what it called the “end of America’s evils,” signaling that Tehran had no immediate intention of restoring unrestricted commercial passage through the waterway.

The Guards also threatened to disrupt additional maritime routes used by the United States and its regional allies.

“Regional energy exports are either shared by all, or denied to all,” the IRGC said in a statement carried by Iranian state media.

The warning raised the possibility that Iran could encourage allied forces elsewhere in the region to target other major shipping corridors. Particular concern has focused on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait between Yemen and the Horn of Africa, through which vessels travel between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

The renewed Iranian threats followed the restoration of a US naval blockade directed at maritime traffic entering or leaving Iranian ports.

US Central Command announced that the blockade would take effect Tuesday afternoon, reversing the suspension of an earlier operation that ran from April 13 through June 18. The command said vessels not traveling to or from Iranian ports would continue to be permitted through regional waters.

During the previous blockade, American forces redirected more than 140 vessels, disabled nine ships that allegedly refused to comply and allowed more than 50 vessels carrying humanitarian supplies to proceed, according to CENTCOM.

The United States also launched new attacks on Iranian coastal defenses, missile and drone installations, maritime capabilities and other military sites. CENTCOM said a five-hour mission ending late Monday struck targets in Bushehr, Chabahar, Jask, Konarak, Abu Musa and Bandar Abbas.

US forces had already attacked more than 300 Iranian targets over three nights earlier in the month, according to the command. Washington says the strikes are intended to reduce Iran’s ability to attack commercial vessels attempting to pass through Hormuz.

American officials have accused Iran of attacking seven commercial ships over the past week, leaving nearly a dozen crew members dead, missing or wounded. Tehran has not publicly accepted responsibility for all of the incidents.

Iran responded to the latest US operations by launching missiles and drones at countries hosting American forces.

The IRGC claimed attacks on facilities associated with the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, an American logistics site in Kuwait and a base used by US forces in Jordan. Kuwait reported bringing a fire under control following an Iranian attack, while Jordan said its air defenses intercepted three ballistic missiles that entered its airspace from Iran.

The escalating exchange has further weakened an interim US-Iranian arrangement reached in June after months of conflict. The agreement was intended to restore shipping through Hormuz and provide 60 days for negotiations on Iran’s nuclear activities, regional security and management of the strait.

Gharibabadi said Iran had not abandoned diplomacy, but argued that the United States had disrupted the process by renewing its strikes and blockade. He dismissed the possibility that greater military or economic pressure would force Tehran to soften its position.

Washington, meanwhile, has demanded that Iran publicly commit to ending attacks on commercial shipping and open all lanes through Hormuz without imposing transit fees.

Iran and Oman previously agreed to form a joint committee to discuss future management of the waterway, including safe passage, services and possible fees. The two governments said any arrangement would have to respect the sovereign rights of both coastal states in their respective territorial waters.

Those discussions have failed to produce a lasting settlement as military confrontations around the strait have intensified.

President Donald Trump has threatened additional attacks unless Iran returns to negotiations, including possible strikes on energy infrastructure. He briefly proposed charging vessels a 20% fee to travel through Hormuz before abandoning the plan following objections from Gulf governments and international shipping officials.

The disruption has placed renewed pressure on global energy markets. Before the war began, roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas shipments traveled through the Strait of Hormuz each day.

Oil prices rose again Wednesday as traders weighed the risk of a prolonged closure and the possibility that the conflict could spread to other shipping routes.

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