Even as the United States and Iran settle into a "fragile" two-week ceasefire, Tehran has made clear that passage through the Strait of Hormuz will not be unconditional.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Wednesday that ship traffic through the critical waterway remains subject to "technical restrictions and mandatory coordination with Iranian armed forces."
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According to Iran's state broadcaster IRIB, vessels can only pass between two Iranian islands and through Iranian territorial waters after obtaining official permission from Tehran.
As Araghchi said, ship traffic is still subject to technical #restrictions and coordination with the Iranian armed forces.
— IRIB (Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting) (@iribnews_irib) April 8, 2026
????Ships can only pass between two Iranian islands and through Iranian territorial waters after obtaining official permission. pic.twitter.com/DWCNpTvskM
The statement tempers what was presented on the ceasefire deal. The deal made complete, immediate and safe opening of the Strait of Hormuz a central condition of the truce, with US agreeing to suspend bombing of Iran for two weeks contingent on Iran meeting that demand.
The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow waterway connecting the Gulf to the Arabian Sea, through which a fifth of the global oil supply passes. Iran's partial blockade of the strait, imposed in the aftermath of large-scale US and Israeli strikes in February, had disrupted global trade and driven up oil prices in the weeks preceding the ceasefire.
The ceasefire itself came in dramatic circumstances. US President Donald Trump pulled back from his threat of wide-scale destruction of Iran's civilian and military infrastructure after Iran ceded to his demand to reopen the strait.
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Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who reportedly brokered the deal, said the ceasefire would take effect immediately, and invited both delegations to Islamabad on Friday to further negotiate a conclusive agreement to settle all disputes.
Iran's Supreme National Security Council, meanwhile, confirming the truce, was pointed in its framing. It emphasised that the ceasefire "does not signify the termination of the war," adding that "our hands remain upon the trigger, and should the slightest error be committed by the enemy, it shall be met with full force."
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