• Khamenei says Iran army defending its land, water.
• Says Iran exposed weakness, humiliation of hostile armies.
• US president warns Iran against “blackmailing.
  

Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei warned Saturday that Tehran’s navy was ready to defeat the US and Israeli forces, as the foes sparred over the Strait of Hormuz.

In a series of posts on X, Khamenei said: “In the same way that the drones of Iran’s Army strike the US and the Zionist murderers like lightning, its valiant navy is also ready to inflict new bitter defeats on its enemies.”

His remarks came as Iran said it is tightening control over the strait, warning mariners that the key energy lifeline was again closed, while shipping sources said at least two vessels came under fire while attempting to transit the waterway.

The Iranian supreme leader said that their army is standing side by side with their comrades from the other armed forces, battling the two leading armies of “disbelief and Arrogance”.

“Islamic Army has exposed those armies’ weakness and humiliation to the world, he added. 

“The Islamic Republic of Iran’s Army is now courageously defending the land, water, and flag that belong to it,” added Khamenei.

Uncertainty around war

Tehran’s renewed tough messaging caused fresh uncertainty around the Iran conflict, raising the risk that oil and gas shipments through the strait could remain disrupted just as Washington weighs whether to extend the fragile ceasefire.

Trump said the US was having “very good conversations” with Iran but that Tehran wanted to close the strait again. Iran could not blackmail the US, he said.

Maritime security and shipping sources said some merchant vessels had received radio messages from Iran’s navy saying no ships were allowed through the waterway, reversing Friday’s signs that traffic might resume.

Maritime trackers had earlier shown a convoy of eight tankers transiting the narrow passage in the first major movement of ships since the US-Israeli war on Iran began seven weeks ago.

Hours earlier, Trump had cited “some pretty good news” about Iran, declining to elaborate. But he also said fighting might resume without a peace deal by Wednesday, when the two-week ceasefire expires.

Iran had announced its temporary reopening of the Strait of Hormuz following a separate US-brokered 10-day ceasefire agreement on Thursday between Israel and Lebanon. Israel invaded parts of southern Lebanon after the Iran-allied Hezbollah militant group joined the fighting in early March.

But on Saturday, Iran’s armed forces command said transit through the strait had reverted to a state of strict Iranian military control, citing what it described as repeated US violations and acts of “piracy” under the guise of a blockade.

The spokesperson said Iran had earlier agreed, “in good faith,” to the managed passage of a limited number of oil tankers and commercial vessels following negotiations, but said continued US actions had forced Tehran to restore tighter controls on shipping through the strategic chokepoint.

US Central Command said in a statement that American forces were enforcing a maritime blockade of Iran, but did not comment on the latest Iranian actions.

No date for direct talks 

The war with Iran began on February 28 with a US-Israeli attack on the Islamic Republic. It has killed thousands, spread to Israeli attacks in Lebanon and sent oil prices surging because of the de facto closure of the strait.

Despite the initial movement of ships, Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Saeed Khatibzadeh, said no date had been set for the next round of negotiations, adding that a framework of understanding must be agreed first.

Pressure for a way out of the war has mounted as Trump’s fellow Republicans defend narrow majorities in Congress in the November midterm elections with US gasoline prices high, inflation rising and his own approval ratings down.

“The main thing is that Iran will not have a nuclear weapon. You cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon, and that supersedes everything else,” Trump said on Friday.

Trump also said he might end the ceasefire with Iran unless a long-term deal to end the war was agreed before it expires on Wednesday, adding that a US blockade of Iranian ports would continue.

There were no signs of preparations early on Saturday for talks in the Pakistani capital, where the highest-level US-Iran negotiations since the 1979 Islamic Revolution ended without agreement last weekend.

A Pakistani source aware of mediation efforts had said a meeting between Iran and the US could produce an initial memorandum of understanding, followed by a comprehensive peace agreement within 60 days.

Separately, a senior Iranian official said Tehran hoped a preliminary agreement could be reached in the coming days.

Oil prices fell about 10% and global stocks jumped on Friday on the prospect of marine traffic resuming through the strait. Despite that, hundreds of vessels and about 20,000 seafarers remain stranded in the Gulf awaiting passage through the waterway, shipping sources said.

At last weekend’s talks, the US proposed a 20-year suspension of all Iranian nuclear activity, while Iran suggested a halt of three to five years, according to people familiar with the proposals. Two Iranian sources have said there were signs of a compromise that could remove part of the stockpile.

The head of Russia’s state atomic energy company, Rosatom, Alexei Likhachev, said on Saturday that Rosatom was ready to help with the removal of enriched uranium from Iran, and that the company was closely following the progress of US-Iran talks.

— With additional input from Reuters

• More than dozen tankers passed through when strait reopened.
• UK Navy reported that Iranian gunboats fired at some ships. 
• Hundreds of ships remain stranded and oil flows disrupted.
  

OSLO: More than a dozen tankers, including three sanctioned vessels, passed through the Strait of Hormuz after a 50-day blockade was lifted on Friday, shipping data showed, before Iran reimposed restrictions on Saturday and fired at some vessels.

Reopening the strait is key for Gulf producers to resume full oil and gas supplies to the world, and end what the International Energy Agency has called the worst-ever supply disruption.

US President Donald Trump said on Friday Iran had agreed to open the strait, while Iranian officials said they wanted the US to fully lift its blockade of Iranian tankers.

Western shipping companies cautiously welcomed the announcements but said more clarity was needed, including on the presence of sea mines, before their vessels could transit.

Iran resumes restrictions 

The ships that passed through the strait on Friday and Saturday via Iranian waters south of Larak island were mainly older, non-Western-owned vessels and included four sanctioned ships, according to ship-tracking data.

Iran arranged passage for a limited number of oil tankers and commercial ships following prior agreements in negotiations, a spokesperson for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said.

Other ships have been seen approaching the strait and turning back as Iran said it would maintain strict controls as long as the US continues its blockade of Iranian ports.

The UK Navy reported on Saturday that Iranian gunboats fired at some ships attempting to cross the strait.

Some merchant vessels received radio messages from Iran’s navy saying the strait was shut again and that no ships were allowed to pass, shipping sources said on Saturday.

Ship-tracking data showed five vessels loaded with liquefied natural gas from Ras Laffan in Qatar approaching the strait on Saturday morning.

No LNG cargoes have transited the waterway since the US-Israeli war with Iran began on February 28.

Hundreds of ships have been stuck in the Gulf since the conflict started and Tehran closed the strait, forcing Gulf oil and gas producers to sharply cut production.

Top producers such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iraq and Kuwait say they need steady tanker flows and unrestricted passage through the strait to resume normal export operations.

• Tehran seeks framework before new talks with US.
• Trump says more US-Iran talks likely this weekend.
• Iran warns of repercussions if US violates truce.
  

No date has been set for the next round of negotiations between Iran and the United States, Iran’s deputy foreign minister said on Saturday, adding that a framework of understanding must be agreed first.

The highest-level US-Iran talks since the 1979 Islamic Revolution ended in Islamabad without agreement last weekend.

US President Donald Trump has told Reuters there would probably be more direct talks this weekend, though some diplomats said that was unlikely given the logistics of convening in Islamabad, where the talks are expected to take place.

“We are now focusing on finalising the framework of understanding between the two sides. We don’t want to enter into any negotiation or meeting which is doomed to fail and which can be a pretext for another round of escalation,” Saeed Khatibzadeh told reporters on the sidelines of a diplomacy forum in the southern Turkish province of Antalya.

“Until we agree the framework, we cannot set the date… There was significant progress made, actually. But then the maximalist approach by the other side, trying to make Iran an exception from international law prevented us from reaching an agreement,” he said, referring to US demands over Iran’s nuclear programme.

“I have to be very crystal clear that Iran would not accept being an exception from international law. Anything that we are going to be committed to will be within the international regulations and international law.”

Asked about reports that Iran again closed the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday after its temporary reopening following a separate US-brokered 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon on Thursday, Khatibzadeh said Iran had announced it would allow the safe passage of commercial vessels in line with the terms of the truce.

“The other side, the American side, tried to sabotage that by saying that it is open except for Iranians. So that was the reason we said that ‘if you are going to violate the ceasefire terms and conditions, if Americans are not going to honour their words, there will be repercussions for them’,” he said.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) Field Marshal Asim Munir concluded separate visits aimed at ending the Iran war, with Field Marshal Munir leaving Tehran and premier Shehbaz headed home from Turkey.

CDF Munir met Iran’s top leadership and peace negotiators during a three-day visit to Tehran, a military’s media wing statement said on Saturday.

Egypt and Pakistan were working “very hard” as mediators to bring about “a final agreement between the United States and Iran”, Egypt´s foreign minister told journalists at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum.

Egypt and Turkey has joined diplomatic efforts with Pakistan to help secure a ceasefire in the conflict.

“We hope to do so (reach an agreement) in the coming days,” Badr Abdelatty said, noting that “not only us in the region, but the whole world is suffering from the continuation of this war”.

“We are pushing very hard in order to move forward,” he said.

Trump ‘tweets a lot’

Iran dismissed US threats of fresh military action, with the senior Iranian official saying that Washington´s statements were inconsistent.

“The American side tweets a lot, talks a lot. Sometimes confusing, sometimes, you know, contradictory,” Khatibzadeh said, referring to US President Donald Trump and his frequent social media posts.

“It is up to the American people to decide whether these statements are consistent and in accordance with international law,” he added.

Khatibzadeh said Iran’s position was clear and vowed resistance to pressure from Washington.

“What we are going to do is quite clear. We will defend heroically and patriotically (our country) … as the oldest civilisation on earth,” he said.

The deputy minister also rejected US accusations that Iran was threatening freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical route for global oil shipments, after Iran’s military again declared the waterway closed.

“Americans cannot impose their will to do a siege over Iran while Iran, with good intentions, is trying to facilitate safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz,” Khatibzadeh said.

He said Iran had announced safe passage for commercial vessels for the duration of Israel-Lebanon ceasefire, provided there was prior coordination with Iranian maritime authorities.

However, Khatibzadeh accused Washington of attempting to “sabotage” those efforts.