The Strait of Hormuz was declared to be completely open by Iran on Friday, and the country said that vessels must go through a "coordinated route" for passage.
“In line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage for all commercial vessels through Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire, on the coordinated route as already announced by Ports and Maritime Organisation of the Islamic Rep. of Iran,” Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said.
Trump said in response, "IRAN HAS JUST ANNOUNCED THAT THE STRAIT OF IRAN IS FULLY OPEN AND READY FOR FULL PASSAGE. THANK YOU!"
The president then added in two follow-up posts about steps going forward, "THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ IS COMPLETELY OPEN AND READY FOR BUSINESS AND FULL PASSAGE, BUT THE NAVAL BLOCKADE WILL REMAIN IN FULL FORCE AND EFFECT AS IT PERTAINS TO IRAN, ONLY, UNTIL SUCH TIME AS OUR TRANSACTION WITH IRAN IS 100% COMPLETE. THIS PROCESS SHOULD GO VERY QUICKLY IN THAT MOST OF THE POINTS ARE ALREADY NEGOTIATED. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER! PRESIDENT DONALD J.TRUMP"
After Trump addressed the deal going forward, he added, "The U.S.A. will get all Nuclear “Dust,” created by our great B2 Bombers - No money will exchange hands in any way, shape, or form. This deal is in no way subject to Lebanon, either, but the USA will, separately, work with Lebanon, and deal with the Hezboolah situation in an appropriate manner. Israel will not be bombing Lebanon any longer. They are PROHIBITED from doing so by the U.S.A. Enough is enough!!!"
The move from Iran comes after Trump has applied pressure on the regime to open the key waterway with a blockade using the US military. When the move was announced, US oils prices tanked in the market, with the price dropping over 10 percent.
A few days ago, the president said that China, an ally of Iran, has been looking for the crisis in the strait to come to an end.
"We have a very good relationship with China. [Xi] would like to see this ended also. He certainly wants it ended... I want to see it ended too. But we can't give a nuclear weapon to a group of people that have caused nothing but havoc for 47 years. Look, I'm the president that's done something about it. This should have, and many other presidents regret that they didn't," he told Human Events Daily host Jack Posobiec at the White House.
China had been accelerating its efforts to bring the conflict between the US and Iran to an end, according to a report from Reuters. The efforts come ahead of a summit between the US and China that will take place next month.
Earlier last week, Trump declared that there would be a 14-day ceasefire between the US and Iran, which is set to end this week. The ceasefire may be extended, but it remains unclear if Iran will agree to demands from the US to give up its nuclear ambitions even as the US has been taking out massive swaths of its military capacity.
