Iran Says Hormuz Will Stay Closed Until U.S. Meets Its Conditions

Iran declared on Tuesday that the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the United States halts the war and fulfills Tehran's demands, setting a high bar for a deal that would resume more oil traffic through the crucial waterway. Mohsen Rezaei, Iran's Supreme National Security Council secretary, stated that Washington must terminate the conflict and unfreeze Iranian funds abroad before Tehran would agree to reopen the strait.

Additional conditions delivered to the U.S. via mediators were mentioned by Rezaei in remarks reported by the semi-official Tasnim news agency, though he did not publicly disclose those specifics. These comments complicate the prospects of reaching a shipping agreement swiftly. U.S. officials had indicated last week that talks involving Iran and Oman were advancing toward permitting more vessels through Hormuz.

Brent crude rose on Tuesday, with the October contract trading at $88.70 per barrel shortly after 1 p.m. ET, up $0.98, or 1.12%, following the market's weeks-long reaction to any suggestion of normalizing Persian Gulf shipping, despite ongoing constraints and security risks for commercial vessels. Iran has previously proposed conditions to assert more control over inbound traffic through Hormuz and gain visibility over outbound ships, insisting that any deal acknowledge its security interests in the waterway.

The latest demands underscore that Iran is directly linking the shipping issue to the wider war, rather than treating Hormuz as an isolated maritime concern. Rezaei's remarks leave the next step to Washington, as ending the war and releasing frozen Iranian funds are far more significant concessions than merely agreeing on shipping rules, with Tehran asserting that Hormuz will stay closed until those demands are met.