TEHRAN, April 18– Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said early Saturday if the U.S. blockade on Iran continues, the Strait of Hormuz will not remain open.
He made the remarks in a post on social media platform X, slamming the claims of U.S. President Donald Trump that Tehran has agreed to all terms of a possible peace deal as “entirely false.”
“They did not win the war with these lies, and they will certainly not get anywhere in negotiations either,” Qalibaf said.
“Passage through the Strait of Hormuz will be conducted based on the ‘designated route’ and with ‘Iranian authorization’,” he said.
He described media warfare and public opinion manipulation as important components of war, stressing that Iran will not be swayed by such ploys.
In a phone interview with CBS News on Friday, Trump claimed that Iran has “agreed to everything” for a peace deal including working with Washington to remove its enriched uranium without the involvement of U.S. ground troops.
He also said Iran has agreed to stop backing groups like Hezbollah and Hamas.
Trump added the two sides are meeting this weekend and that the United States would continue its blockade against Iranian ports “until we get it done.”
Speaking on state-run IRIB TV Friday night, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei rejected claims of U.S. media and officials, saying Iran will not transfer its enriched uranium to a foreign country, and sending it to the United States has never been under consideration.
Iran has tightened its grip on the Strait of Hormuz since Feb. 28, barring vessels owned by or affiliated with Israel and the United States from safe passage after the two countries launched joint strikes on Iran.
The United States subsequently imposed a blockade on ships traveling to and from Iranian ports through the strait after peace negotiations in Islamabad, Pakistan collapsed over the weekend.
On Friday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said the Strait of Hormuz would remain “completely open” to commercial shipping during the two-week truce between Iran and the United States, which took effect on April 8.
Citing people familiar with the talks, U.S. news outlet Axios reported Friday that a second round of United States-Iran negotiations is expected to take place in Pakistan this weekend, most likely on Sunday. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
