Trump announces reopening of Strait of Hormuz and advanced understandings with Tehran

US President Donald Trump announced on Friday (April 17) the full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to transit traffic, expressing his thanks to Iran.

In a post on his Truth Social account, Trump said: "The Strait of Hormuz has been fully opened, ready for trade and freedom of passage, but the naval blockade on Iran will continue until the operation we are conducting with Iran is 100 percent complete."

He hinted that Washington has reached the final stage in the path of the agreement with Tehran, and that the two sides have already reached an understanding on most of the negotiation items, expressing hope that the agreement will be completed soon.

Ironically   , in a previous post, Trump used the phrase "Strait of Iran" instead of "Strait of Hormuz," before later correcting the wording, saying in his previous post: "Iran has just announced that the Strait of Iran is fully open and fully ready for crossing. Thank you."

Iran: Strait is open until the end of the truce

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi announced as part of the ceasefire in Lebanon that the Strait of Hormuz would remain open to all commercial ships until the end of the ceasefire period.

According to the official IRNA news agency, Araqchi said in a post on the platform of the American company "X" that "following the announcement of the ceasefire in Lebanon, I announce the full permission of all commercial ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz for the remainder of the ceasefire."

He pointed out that the passage of ships through the strait will be through the coordinated route, as announced by the Ports and Maritime Affairs Organization of Iran.

Tehran comments on Lebanon deal

The Iranian Foreign Ministry on Friday commented on the ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and the occupying power, while the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) threatened a "devastating response" to any US or Israeli aggression that violates the truce.

The Foreign Ministry welcomed the ceasefire in Lebanon, reiterating that the cessation of the war in Lebanon was part of the ceasefire understanding between Iran and the United States mediated by Pakistan.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmail Baghaei said that from the beginning, during its talks with various regional and international parties, including the Islamabad negotiations, Iran stressed the need to establish a simultaneous ceasefire in the entire region, including Lebanon, and seriously pursued this issue after the Islamabad negotiations.

In another context, the speaker of Iran's parliament, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, said on the platform of the American company "X" that Tehran will "cautiously" approach the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon.

On the other hand, the IRGC said in a statement that "the army and the IRGC are ready to respond forcefully to any aggressive and criminal act by the enemies."

He added that Iran will also "take revenge" for those who killed the Dina ship, which was sunk by the United States on March 4 in international waters.

Death of one in Lebanon truce  violation

An Israeli airstrike by drones led to the death of a martyr, in the first breach of the truce between Israel and Hezbollah, which came into effect at dawn on Friday.

The strike came minutes after US President Donald Trump said the US had banned Israel from bombing Lebanon again.

In a related context, the National News Agency said that the occupation army is carrying out bombings in the towns of Taybeh and Deir Syrian in southern Lebanon, despite the ceasefire in force.