Trump says US to maintain blockade, as Iran vows to keep Hormuz closed until demands met

Tehran denies reports of ceasefire extension, saying there’s ‘nothing to extend’; 30 countries condemn Islamic Republic’s executions, say they’re used to ‘silence dissent’

US President Donald Trump declared Wednesday that the US will maintain its blockade of Iranian ports, while Iran reiterated that the waterway would stay closed until its demands are met.

“The U.S.A. has total control over the Strait of Hormuz. I THINK WE WILL KEEP IT!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “Our Naval Blockade is being called, by everyone, ‘A WALL OF STEEL,’ and there is nothing Iran can do about it.”

“They have no Navy, they have no Air Force, their remaining soldiers are unpaid, the [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] is decimated and fleeing, and their ‘Leadership’ is uncertain, at best! They have No Money – Their country is ‘shot,’” Trump wrote.

“All they have is FAKE NEWS and 300% INFLATION, and getting worse! Iran is all talk and no action, the Bully of the Middle East No Longer,” Trump wrote. “Praise be to Allah!”

Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority – created by the Islamic Republic in May to control shipping through Hormuz – wrote on X: “Claims and repeated posts by US officials that the Strait of Hormuz is no longer blocked do not change the reality: the Strait of Hormuz remains blocked and will not be reopened until Iran’s conditions are accepted.”

Trump has taken to insulting Iran’s leaders of late, after calling them much more reasonable than previous leaders less than two months ago when he signed a memorandum of understanding with Tehran that was supposed to permanently end the war between the two countries and reopen the strait.

The US president is reportedly leaning toward declaring victory over Iran, without securing a deal regarding Iran’s nuclear program as he seeks to disengage from the issue.

But disengaging while maintaining the blockade is likely to keep global gas prices up, while potentially inviting additional Iranian strikes at its neighbors that have destabilized the region.

Pakistan’s interior minister was in Iran on Wednesday to discuss regional security, stability and other developments, his office said.

“He is discussing bilateral relations, security, regional security and stability, and constructive engagement amongst the parties in the region and regional developments,” said Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman Tahir Andrabi, whose government has been mediating to end the fighting.

Turkey’s Anadolu news agency, citing Pakistani government sources, reported that Tehran and Washington agreed to extend a 60-day ceasefire under their interim deal signed in June, but Iran denied this.

There were no discussions between Iran and the United States on extending the ceasefire, a senior Iranian source told Reuters.

“There is no talk of an extension because, from Iran’s perspective, there is no period that began and therefore nothing to extend. The United States violated the interim agreement 48 hours after it was reached and withdrew from it a few days later,” the source said.

“One of the issues that is being discussed via mediators is the US returning to the interim agreement and defining a timeframe for implementing the commitments. There has been absolutely no progress on this issue,” the source added.

Also Wednesday, 26 nations, including France, the UK and Canada, condemned the use of capital punishment by Iranian authorities, saying in a joint statement the Islamic Republic was executing protesters to “silence dissent.”

The countries, joined by the European Union’s top diplomat, said they “condemn in the strongest terms the ongoing executions of protesters and use of the death penalty” by Iran.

“The use of capital punishment to silence dissent, intimidate communities, and punish individuals exercising their human rights can never be justified,” they said.

After the initial 26 countries and the EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, “other countries joined this declaration,” bringing the number of signatories to 32, the French foreign ministry told AFP.

Iran’s foreign minister brushed off the criticism, saying: “Countries like France should stop lecturing the world about ‘human rights’ and international law. The hypocrisy is blatant and embarrassing.

“Your backing of Israel’s genocide in Gaza — and aggression against Iran — has destroyed whatever moral high ground you imagined you had,” Abbas Araghchi posted on X, lobbying an accusation at Israel that the Jewish state fiercely rejects.

According to the UN, since March 19, at least 56 people have been executed in Iran on national security-related charges, including 27 people in cases linked to the protests.

More than 100 others are at risk of being put to death on similar charges, Turk said. The UN and rights groups have warned of a lack of fair trials and of forced confessions.

Last year, Iran put to death over 2,150 people, according to Amnesty International, making it the world’s second-most prolific executioner, after China, and the per-capita leader.

Arrests and executions have multiplied in the country since the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28 with the stated goals of ending its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and setting the conditions for the fall of the regime.

The war came after, in January, regime forces in Iran opened fire on protesters amid a wave of mass demonstrations, killing thousands or tens of thousands over two days. The latest arrests and executions have been linked to both the war and those anti-regime protests.