Iran Says Hormuz Stays Half-Shut Until Washington Bends — Even as an Oman Deal Nears

This aerial photograph shows boats anchored off Oman's northern Musandam Peninsula near the Strait of Hormuz on June 27, 2026. Iran launched attacks on US sites in the Gulf in response to American strikes on the country, state media said on June 27, after Washington accused Tehran of attacking one of its cargo ships in the Strait of Hormuz. The trading of fire raised questions about efforts to keep the crucial waterway open while Washington and Tehran negotiate a final settlement to a war that began on February 28 with US and Israeli strikes on Iran. (Credit: Photo by AFP via Getty Images)

A general draws the line

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps used the weekend to make one thing clear: normal shipping through the Strait of Hormuz isn't coming back until Washington gives ground. IRGC spokesman Gen. Hossein Mohebbi told the state-run Tasnim News Agency on Saturday that the terms for a full reopening rest entirely with Tehran, and that they hinge on the US abandoning what he described as an interventionist posture. Iran's Tasnim outlet quoted him saying the process is "subject to the specific mechanisms and conditions of the Islamic Republic of Iran," according to several outlets. Mohebbi went further, describing the strait as a symbol of Iranian regional power rather than a simple trade corridor, and he explicitly separated the reopening question from Tehran's ongoing talks with Muscat.