Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has said the Strait of Hormuz will reopen only under what he called “Iranian arrangements,” a statement that signals Tehran intends to keep a firm hand over commercial shipping through the waterway regardless of international pressure.
The remarks from Ghalibaf, who also serves as Iran’s Parliament Speaker, came after the collapse of a recent ceasefire and fresh US military strikes on Iranian facilities linked to maritime operations. Tehran has argued that any future navigation through the strait must acknowledge its security role. Washington and Gulf Arab states counter that international transit rights cannot be made conditional on Iranian approval.
The dispute has effectively shifted in character. Iran is no longer negotiating simply over when to reopen the waterway, but over who writes the rules governing it. According to a Reuters report, Iranian leaders increasingly view control of Hormuz as their strongest strategic card against Western powers, calculating that concessions on the strait would invite broader demands over Iran’s nuclear and missile programs.
The practical stakes are considerable. Roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil consumption passes through the strait, along with a substantial share of global LNG exports. Several commercial vessels have already delayed or rerouted voyages amid continued military tensions, putting pressure on shipping insurance costs and energy prices.
US airstrikes have targeted missile, drone, and coastal facilities that American officials say were being used to threaten commercial shipping after attacks on vessels in the strait. Iran has separately warned Britain and France against any mine-clearing operations in the waterway.
Ghalibaf has also accused the US of violating key clauses of an earlier peace framework, and conditioned further talks on Washington implementing its early-stage obligations, including those tied to Hormuz. He has stressed that Iran and Oman hold sovereign rights over administration of the strait under the terms of that framework.
