The US naval blockade of Iranian ports remains in place, Iran’s semi-official news agency Tasnim reported on Saturday, citing Iranian seafarers.
“The naval blockade is still in place and ships are receiving stop warnings and denial of passage from CENTCOM,” the report cited the seafarers as saying.
For his part, a top military advisor to Iran’s supreme leader accused Washington of “betraying diplomacy.”
“As expected, the U.S. President is betraying diplomacy for the third time.
“By continuing the naval blockade and making excessive demands in negotiations, he has further proven that he is not willing to engage in talks and is pursuing other objectives,” Mohsen Rezaei wrote on the US social media company X.
In a Friday post on his social media platform Truth Social, US President Donald Trump said Iran would be required to remove any remaining mines in the Strait of Hormuz, while the US would lift its naval blockade on ships entering or leaving Iranian ports.
“Ships caught in the Strait due to our amazing and unprecedented Naval Blockade, which will now be lifted, may start the process of ‘heading home!'”
Regional tensions have escalated since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran in February. Tehran retaliated with strikes targeting Israel as well as US allies in the Gulf, along with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
A ceasefire took effect on April 8 through Pakistani mediation and was later extended by Trump indefinitely.
Following stalled negotiations mediated by Islamabad, the US has imposed a blockade on Iranian ports since April 13, including those located along the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
Mediation efforts are ongoing to put an end to the conflict between the parties. – AA