Analysis Tehran Closes the Strait After Washington Breaches Understandings and Responds to American Aggression

Exclusive – Al-Khabar Al-Yemeni:
The confrontation between Iran and the United States entered a new turning point after the Revolutionary Guard announced the complete closure of the Strait of Hormuz, linking its reopening to the cessation of American interventions and military moves in the region. The announcement was made in a decisive tone, leaving little room for interpretation: no ship passage until further notice, and no recognition of any navigational corridor operated outside coordination with Tehran.
Hours after the announcement, the United States launched aggressive strikes on sites inside Iran, quickly moving the crisis from a dispute over navigation arrangements to an open round of bombardment and mutual responses.
Washington considered its operations a response to the closure of the strait and the targeting of ships that attempted to pass through the southern route, while Tehran saw the strikes as proof of its fears that the American administration was using negotiation and the truce as a cover to change the reality in the Gulf before imposing new conditions by force.
From the Memorandum of Understanding to a Conflict over Managing the Strait:
The story did not begin with the recent strikes. Its roots go back to the memorandum of understanding signed by Washington and Tehran after the previous round of war. The memorandum granted Iran a role in coordinating ship movement within the strait and opened the door to temporary arrangements allowing the resumption of navigation and reducing tension. However, the dispute emerged when the United States attempted to interpret the agreement in a way that allowed it to create alternative routes that were not practically subject to Iranian arrangements.
During yesterday’s meeting in Muscat, a concept based on two routes was proposed: a southern route along Omani waters and a northern route passing through Iranian waters. The Iranian delegation