The Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi agreed on Friday that the Strait would be open, albeit using the Iranian-approved route.
But he immediately got in trouble for what he said, because he didn’t address the U.S. blockade in his tweet. As President Donald Trump said, the U.S. blockade of Iranian ships continued. The attacks showed the chaos their leadership is in.
The other main negotiator, Mohammad Ghalibaf, after likely seeing what happened with Araghchi, reneged on the deal and said it would remain closed until the blockade stopped.
So then they decided to punctuate their tirade by firing on ships on Saturday.
READ MORE: Here’s More Evidence the Iranian Regime Is Fracturing and in Trouble as Trump Holds Its Feet to the Fire (VIP)
Iranian Navy Fires On Two Vessels in Strait of Hormuz, Demonstrating That Waterway Is Not Open
But they’re still in a position where they can’t play these games without winning prizes for being stupid.
If the U.S. blockade of any ships coming to or going from any Iranian ports wasn’t enough to put the squeeze on them, their tantrums are about to earn them another big consequence.
The U.S. military is preparing in coming days to board Iran-linked oil tankers and seize commercial ships in international waters, according to U.S. officials, expanding its naval crackdown beyond the Middle East.
Gen. Dan Caine appeared to touch on this earlier in the week when he said they would pursue Iranian ships in international waters or any ships trying to provide material support to Iran. They generally are talking about sanctioned and “dark fleet” vessels, which are trying to avoid legal restrictions.
Gen. Dan Caine said the U.S. is expanding its blockade of Iran’s ports and coastline to directly target so-called “dark fleet” vessels—sanctioned, covert tankers used to evade restrictions and move Iranian oil. pic.twitter.com/WIJVBAyv0p
— Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) April 16, 2026
That will increase the economic pressure, which is already considerable, and put more pressure on them to make nuclear concessions.
As it is, they’re running out of time to make a deal as the ceasefire will end on Wednesday. So either they come across, or they go back to getting bombed and earn more harmful economic consequences.
This is likely to make China start leaning on Iran to make a deal because some of these ships are likely meant for them. They don’t want to have their supply further messed with.
As we reported, in addition to the consequences of the blockade, which costs them millions of dollars a day, and now, the prospect of the seizure of vessels, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is also going after them with Operation “Economic Fury” by freezing accounts in neighboring countries. Seems the neighbors are much more likely to be transparent about Iranian regime accounts after Iran started bombing them. Funny how that works. But another example of how Iran keeps miscalculating.
READ MORE: Bessent Delivers Another Powerful Blow to Iran – Reveals What May Be Their ‘Fatal Mistake’
Iran’s Face-Saving Strait Spin Gets Upstaged by a Cruise Ship
So if the regime is sane, there’s only one way out of this. But it’s the Iranian regime, so it isn’t, and they keep stepping in it. and picking the insane option.
Editor’s Note: For decades, former presidents have been all talk and no action. Now, Donald Trump is eliminating the threat from Iran once and for all.
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