Iran has said the Strait of Hormuz will reopen only if the United States accepts Tehran’s conditions and stops interfering in regional negotiations, keeping the strategically important waterway at the center of rising tensions between the two countries.
Brigadier General Hossein Mohebi, a spokesman for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), made the remarks on Saturday at a ceremony marking National Journalists’ Day in Bandar Abbas, a major port city in southern Iran.
Mohebi said the reopening of the strait would be decided through Iran’s own mechanisms and would not depend on negotiations between Iran and Oman. He described the waterway not only as a vital route for global trade and energy supplies, but also as an important source of geopolitical and strategic influence for Iran.
“Whenever the United States accepts Iran’s conditions, the Strait of Hormuz will certainly be reopened,” he said.
The comments come as Iran and Oman continue discussions over arrangements for commercial shipping through the waterway. Iranian officials have stressed that any agreement with Muscat would not automatically mean a full reopening of the strait.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi has said the two countries are close to completing a new framework for commercial vessel transit. The proposed system would replace arrangements that have been in place for decades and could direct a significant share of commercial traffic through Iranian territorial waters.
The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world’s most important energy routes, linking the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the wider Arabian Sea. Any prolonged disruption could affect global energy markets and international trade.
Mohebi also warned that the conflict had exposed the world’s dependence on the region’s natural resources and strategic materials. He said supply disruptions were already affecting industries that rely on raw materials and components used in electronics.
With the strait still closed, the waterway remains both a critical trade route and a powerful symbol of the wider confrontation between Iran and the United States.
