Iran has said that the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until their conditions are met and commitments from the United States are implemented. Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf made these comments, according to Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency. Ghalibaf said Iran would continue to both fight and negotiate, using military force against its enemies and diplomacy to consolidate what it considers gains on the battlefield. Iran has reportedly said that reopening the Strait depends on Washington meeting conditions including an end to the fighting and changes to US sanctions and restrictions on Iranian shipping.
The Strait of Hormuz continues to remain at the centre of the conflict. US CENTCOM said that they helped more than two thousand commercial vessels transit the strait and supported the movement of more than one billion barrels of crude oil out of the Gulf over the past two months. Iran, however continues to challenge the US role in the waterway, and shipping through the strait remains significantly disrupted compared with pre-war levels.
Meanwhile, the wider regional conflict continues. Saudi Arabia stated that it intercepted a ballistic missile launched towards Riyadh on Saturday, while Yemen’s Houthi movement has claimed attacks against Saudi targets. The US State Department, citing Houthi hostilities against Saudi Arabia, renewed a blanket travel alert for Americans in or traveling to the West Asia region, warning that the conflict with Iran “has the potential to escalate rapidly.” The alert advised Americans to seriously reconsider travel to and through the region.
