Iran Says It Controls Strait Now

Iran is publicly staking a claim to the world's most sensitive oil chokepoint—and warning what will happen if anyone tests it. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday that under the preliminary agreement reached with President Trump, Tehran alone will oversee maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, and that efforts to dodge its authority could invite more strikes on shipping, the Wall Street Journal reports. The US insists the agreement doesn't hand Iran control and that passage must remain open to all. The clash over interpretation comes during a series of attacks and counterattacks.

Iran has hit two commercial vessels, the US has targeted Iranian coastal communications and missile sites, and Iran has since struck Kuwait and Bahrain. The flare-up has spooked shipowners, stalled follow-up talks in Switzerland on broader issues including Iran's nuclear program, and clouded Trump's tentative plan to reopen a strait that once carried 20% of the world's oil. Despite the strikes, a senior American official told the New York Times that technical talks planned between the US and Iran have not been canceled. Pakistan, a mediator, had said talks would resume Tuesday, per the AP.