Iran US War Highlights: Trump says Iran cannot ‘blackmail’ US over Strait of Hormuz; Iranian ‘gunboats’ firing on tanker

The Iranian president's deputy chief of staff said on Saturday the country allowed conditional passage through the Strait of Hormuz as a goodwill gesture, but reversed the move after what he described as a renewed breach of trust and misuse of the concession.

“The Islamic Republic, in order to demonstrate goodwill and its commitment to peace, enabled conditional passage through the Strait of Hormuz, but a renewed breach of trust and exploitation of this major concession for propaganda purposes led to the closure of the waterway again,” Mehdi Tabatabaei wrote on X in an apparent reference to the United States' blockade of Iranian ports.

Hours after Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz in less than 24 hours of opening it, US President Donald Trump issued a sharp warning to Tehran, asserting that the Islamic Republic has been significantly weakened and is no longer in a position to "blackmail" America by shutting the waterway.

"They (Iran) have no navy, no air force. They have no leaders; they have nothing. But we are talking to them. They wanted to close the Strait again, as they have been doing for years. They can't blackmail us. They have killed a lot of people. A lot of your fellow soldiers have been killed over the years by Iran. They have gotten away with murder for 47 years. They are not getting away with it anymore," Trump said, speaking from his Oval office.

India on Saturday called Iran's Ambassador Dr. Mohammad Fathali and conveyed "deep concern" at the shooting incident earlier today involving two Indian-flagged ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson said in a statement that Iran's Ambassador was called in for a meeting with Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri this evening.

The Foreign Secretary urged the Ambassador to convey India's views and resume the process of facilitating India-bound ships across the Strait.

"During the meeting, Foreign Secretary conveyed India's deep concern at the shooting incident earlier today involving two Indian-flagged ships in the Strait of Hormuz," the statement said.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said on Saturday it had received a report of a tanker being fired upon by what it said "two gunboats linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC)" 20 nautical miles northeast of Oman.

In a separate incident, UKMTO said it had received a report of a container ship being hit by an unknown projectile 25 nautical miles northeast of Oman," Reuters reported.

US Central Command - Arabic on X, “The littoral combat ship USS Canberra (LCS 30) is conducting patrols in the Arabian Sea as part of the US blockade. Since the blockade began, 23 ships have complied with US forces' directives to turn around and return. U.S. forces are imposing a naval blockade on ships entering or exiting Iranian ports and coastal areas.”

According to CNN, a second incident has occurred in the Strait of Hormuz, hours after Iranian gunboats fired on a tanker transiting the waterway, as per the UK Maritime Traffic Organization (UKMTO), the maritime authority which has responsibility for the region.

A container ship was hit by “unknown projectile which caused damage to some of the containers” about 25 nautical miles (46km) off the coast of Oman, the UKMTO said, without specifying who was responsible for the incident.

No fires or environmental damage have been reported and authorities are investigating, the shipping body added.

The incident came shortly after the UKMTO reported that Iranian Revolutionary Guards gunboats fired on a tanker traveling through the strait.

Both incidents were reported in the hours after Iran reimposed restrictions on shipping attempting to navigate through the crucial chokepoint in response to US President Donald Trump saying that the US blockade of Iranian ports would continue.

The Israel defence Forces posted on X, “Since the ceasefire came into effect, IDF soldiers south of the Yellow Line in southern Lebanon identified several incidents in which terrorists violated the ceasefire understandings by approaching from north of the Yellow Line toward IDF soldiers, posing an immediate threat.”

“In order to remove the threat, the IDF conducted precise strikes against the terrorists and terrorist infrastructure sites,” Israel defence Forces said.

US and Iranian delegations are set to hold negotiations Monday to end the war, Iranian sources told CNN. The US hasn’t confirmed talks are scheduled. President Donald Trump says he may not extend the ceasefire with Iran if negotiations fail.

The Iran Consulate in Hydersbad posted on X, “New Iranian oil shipment arrives in India despite blockade.”

“The Iranian supertanker Dorna, which was last seen in Iran just hours before the blockade, has now appeared on the AIS off the southern coast of India and is scheduled to deliver about two million barrels of crude oil to a refinery there," TankerTrackers said, as per the consulate-general.

This is the third oil shipment that India has received from Iran in at least the past week, bringing the total amount of oil India has purchased from Iran to 6 million barrels, according to figures released so far.

Iran has not agreed for now to a new round of negotiations with the United States, IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News reported on Saturday.

The report said Tehran had conveyed the decision to US officials through a Pakistani intermediary.

Following earlier reports that Iran has opened part of its airspace in the east, six Iranian airports have now reopened, according to the Association of Iranian Airlines, Al Jazeera reported.

Newly opened airports include the Imam Khomeini International Airport and Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran, as well as international airports serving the cities of Mashhad, Birjand, Gorgan and Zahedan, Iran’s Tasnim news agency cites the secretary of the airline association as saying.

More crude oil and gas carriers have begun to test the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, even as mixed messages from Iranian authorities leave shipowners fretting over the status of the vital energy chokepoint, Bloomberg reported.

A statement from Ibrahim Azizi, head of Iran’s National Security Committee, clarified the current situation as Iran sees it in the strait.

“The time has come to comply with a new maritime regime for the Strait of Hormuz,” he was quoted by Al Jazeera as saying.

Under this new system only commercial vessels with authorisation from the IRGC Navy are permitted to navigate through designated routes after paying the required tolls, the report claimed.

He ended with a warning: “If the US attempts to create any disturbance for Iranian ships this situation can be easily changed.”

The military headquarters of Khatam al-Anbiya added until the United States ends restrictions on the full freedom of passage of Iranian vessels, “the situation in the Strait of Hormuz will remain tightly controlled and unchanged”.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was quoted by Aljazeera as saying that the control of the Strait of Hormuz has “returned to its previous state” because of the continuing blockade of Iranian ports by the US.

The IRGC’s joint military command said the US has “continued acts of piracy and maritime theft under the guise of a so-called blockade”.

“For this reason, control of the Strait of Hormuz has returned to its previous state, and this strategic waterway is now under strict management and control by the armed forces,” said the statement cited by Iranian broadcaster IRIB.

“Until the United States restores full freedom of navigation for vessels travelling from Iran to their destinations and back, the status of the Strait of Hormuz will remain tightly controlled and in its previous condition,” it added.

Iran on Saturday announced a partial reopening of its airspace after a seven-week hiatus because of the war, state media reported.

The Civil Aviation Organisation said air routes over eastern Iran were reopened at 7 am (0330 GMT), according to the state-owned IRAN newspaper. It said flights at the country's airports would gradually resume, but did not give a timeframe.

A cruise successfully transited the Strait of Hormuz for the first time since the outbreak of the West Asia conflict, according to data from MarineTraffic.

The vessel, identified as the Malta-flagged Celestyal Discovery, sailed through the critical waterway on Friday (local time). MarineTraffic indicated the liner was operating without passengers during the journey. It was the first passenger vessel to make it through since the war began. (ANI)

The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) on Saturday said that 21 vessels have been compelled to turn back toward Iran since the United States initiated a naval blockade targeting access to Iranian ports amid diplomatic engagements in order to achieve a complete solution to the hostilities in the region.

In a post on X, CENTCOM stated that the US guided-missile destroyer USS Michael Murphy (DDG 112) is actively patrolling the Arabian Sea as part of the enforcement operation.

Trump says US blockade of Iranian ports will 'remain' if no deal reached, AFP reported.

US President Donald Trump flatly rejected the idea when a reporter asked about the prospect of restrictions or tolls managed by Iran on the Strait of Hormuz.

“Nope. No way. No. Nope,” Trump said. He said there can’t be tolls along with restrictions. “No, they’re not going to be tolls.” (AP)

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday there had been some "pretty good news" regarding Iran but he declined to elaborate, as reported by Reuters.

"We had some pretty good news 20 minutes ago, but it seems to be going very well in the Middle East with Iran," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.