The Strait of Hormuz remained at the center of a renewed U.S.-Iran standoff Saturday after Iran’s Revolutionary Guards declared the waterway shut, while U.S. Central Command said commercial ships were still moving through the critical oil route. The U.S. military said 55 merchant ships transited the strait on June 20, carrying cargo and more than 17 million barrels of oil to global markets.
Strait of Hormuz claim rejected by U.S.
The U.S. military denied Iran’s claim that it had closed the Strait of Hormuz, saying the waterway remained open and that U.S. forces were monitoring the area to keep traffic moving. U.S. Central Command spokesperson Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins said Iran “does not control the Strait of Hormuz” and that traffic continued to flow.
CENTCOM said commercial ship traffic increased Saturday as U.S. forces continued operating in the area in support of freedom of navigation. The command said safe passage through the international waterway remained intact and that U.S. forces stayed present and vigilant to ensure the agreement with Iran remained in effect.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had declared the strait shut earlier Saturday and warned ships not to approach the waterway. The announcement raised new doubts over the U.S.-Iran interim agreement signed days earlier by President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
The immediate facts are split. Tehran announced a closure and warned vessels away. Washington said the closure had not happened in practical terms because ships were still passing through under U.S. monitoring.
Iran cites Lebanon ceasefire violations
Iran tied its move to alleged violations of the broader ceasefire framework, citing Israeli attacks in Lebanon and what it described as U.S. failures to enforce commitments under the interim deal. Iran’s leadership accused Washington of failing to implement the first clause of the 14-point agreement, which included a ceasefire on all fronts, including Lebanon.
The Lebanon front remained unstable. Lebanese Civil Defence said 20 people were killed by Israeli strikes in Lebanon on Saturday, hours after a truce there was supposed to take effect. Israel said it was responding to Hezbollah attacks, while Hezbollah said it would not allow Israel freedom of movement in Lebanon.
Israel has said it is not a party to the U.S.-Iran deal and will keep forces in Lebanese territory it occupies. A U.S. official had said the Lebanon truce took effect Friday at 4 p.m. local time, and Israeli and Hezbollah sources confirmed the agreement, but fighting continued Saturday.
The dispute gives Tehran a direct pressure point against the Trump administration. Iran is using Hormuz as leverage over a broader agreement that Washington says should preserve freedom of navigation and move the two countries toward further talks.
U.S.-Iran talks move toward Switzerland
Despite the Hormuz dispute, Iran sent a high-level delegation to Switzerland for talks with the United States. The Iranian team was led by chief negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and included Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, along with senior security, central bank and oil officials.
Vice President JD Vance said he expected to leave for talks in the coming days and said U.S. negotiators Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff were already in Switzerland handling technical elements of the negotiation. Vance also said he had seen no evidence that the Strait of Hormuz was closed.
The talks follow the interim agreement signed Wednesday by Trump and Pezeshkian to end the nearly four-month war between the United States and Iran. One condition for starting 60 days of negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program and other issues is a halt to fighting in Lebanon.
That condition remains the immediate weak point. The United States says the strait is open. Iran says the ceasefire framework has been violated. Israel says it will keep acting against threats from Hezbollah. Hezbollah says Israeli operations remain violations.
Oil traffic continues under military watch
The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world’s most sensitive energy chokepoints. The U.S. Energy Information Administration says more than 20% of global LNG trade moved through the strait in the first half of 2025, mostly from Qatar, while oil and petroleum flows through the route remain central to Gulf export logistics.
Shipping had already begun recovering before Saturday’s confrontation. Ships resumed broadcasting positions as they transited Hormuz after weeks of concealing movements by switching off transponders. On June 18, there were 25 commercial crossings through the strait, the highest single-day count since April 18, though traffic remained far below the pre-conflict level of about 120 daily crossings.
The route remains risky. The U.S. Navy-led Joint Maritime Information Center warned mariners this week about mines and continued naval presence as clearance operations continue, and advised vessels to avoid the Traffic Separation Scheme because of mine risks.
Iran has also signaled tighter control over transit. An advisory said no vessel was permitted to pass through the Strait of Hormuz without a valid passage permit from Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority, and shipping industry representatives rejected any fee or toll system on what they describe as an international waterway.
Trump deal faces another test
The Trump administration’s central claim is that the interim agreement has reopened a route that global energy markets cannot afford to lose. CENTCOM’s Saturday statement was aimed at reinforcing that message by saying commercial traffic had increased and millions of barrels of oil were still moving.
Iran’s announcement showed the limits of that agreement. Tehran can claim the waterway is closed even while the United States says ships are still moving, leaving insurers, shipowners and Gulf exporters to weigh the actual security risk against political statements from both sides.
The confirmed development is not a verified physical closure of the Strait of Hormuz. It is an Iranian closure claim rejected by the U.S. military, with commercial traffic still moving under American monitoring and with the broader U.S.-Iran deal under fresh strain.
