Iran says Strait of Hormuz to remain closed until US fulfills commitments

Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Sunday that the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the United States fulfills commitments made under a June agreement and meets Tehran's conditions. Speaking to parliament, Ghalibaf said Iran had "explicitly conveyed its conditions to the opposing side through intermediaries," according to state-run broadcaster IRIB, adding that "until these conditions are met... there will be no opening for a return to the previous state of negotiations or for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz." Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi separately said Tehran will not reopen the strait until the U.S. meets its demands, per NewsNation Now. Shipping traffic through Hormuz has fallen to a new low as the standoff deepens, and reporting indicates the disruption is spreading beyond the strait itself: Ynetnews reports that the Panama-flagged oil tanker EL GAIA was hit by mines near Hormuz and caught fire after entering restricted waters, according to the IRGC, while Fox News reports that a drone attack last week badly damaged Saudi Arabia's East-West Pipeline, a key route intended to let Gulf producers bypass Hormuz. Oman has postponed talks between Iran and Gulf states amid the escalation. The June agreement referenced by Ghalibaf is the benchmark Tehran now cites for any reopening, and no timeline for compliance or resumption of negotiations has been given.

Global Impact

Economic: A sustained Hormuz closure and the loss of the Saudi East-West bypass route tighten global crude supply, feeding directly into headline inflation and complicating central bank easing paths; Asian importers (India, Japan, South Korea) carry the sharpest energy-bill exposure. Geopolitical: Iran is using the strait as leverage against Washington over the June agreement, while the U.S. pressure campaign on Iranian exports and attacks on alternative routes raise the risk of a wider Gulf confrontation and draw in Oman and Saudi Arabia as mediators or targets.