Is the Strait of Hormuz open or closed? What to know about the ceasefire

Iran and the US appear to be at odds as to whether the Strait of Hormuz is actually open again under the ceasefire agreement.

Yesterday, Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth told reporters that the Strait had reopened.

He added: ‘It’s time for the rest of the world to step up and ensure that that stays open, after President Trump and the War Department brought Iran to the place where they are voluntarily opening it right now, as was announced last night.’

Shortly after his remarks, reports from the Gulf showed that several vessels received messages from Iran’s navy saying that the Strait of Hormuz was still shut down.

‘Any vessel trying to travel into the sea … will be targeted and destroyed,’ the message said.

Here’s all we know.

How does Iran control the Strait of Hormuz?

A few factors go into how Iran controls the vital waterway, where tankers must sail through Hormuz, a 60-mile-wide part of the Persian Gulf, which has been at the heart of regional tensions for decades.

At its narrowest point, the Strait is just 24 miles across, making it easy for Iran to target vessels passing by without firing from a ship. Instead, they can fire anti-ship missiles from their coastline.

Along with the geography allowing Iran to exert control on the waterway, they also use unique methods of weaponry.

They’ve also laced the water with mines and use cheap drones to attack vessels that pass without permission.

The UN allows countries to exercise control of their territorial seas up to 13.8 miles from their coastlines.

Some portions of the Strait lie entirely in Iran and Oman’s territorial waters, meaning they are allowed to ‘defend’ their countries if needed.

Is the Strait of Hormuz open?

It depends on who you ask.

Dr Bamo Nouri, senior lecturer in International Relations at the University of West London, told Metro that what’s happening with the Strait is contradictory, but both things are true at once.

‘It is technically ‘open’ but not freely operating. The US presents it as open to reassure markets, while Iran is effectively controlling access – allowing passage, but under conditions, monitoring, and implicit threats against non-compliant vessels,’ he explained.

‘That means shipping can move, but with heightened risk, reduced traffic, and rising costs. In practice, Iran doesn’t need to fully close the strait to exert leverage.

‘By making it uncertain, conditional, and potentially expensive, it can still disrupt global energy flows and signal its strategic power, which is why markets remain tense despite the ceasefire.’

How does the ceasefire agreement affect the Strait of Hormuz?

When Iran, Israel and the United States agreed on a two-week ceasefire, one of the conditions all of them agreed on was the opening of the Strait of Hormuz for maritime traffic.

But Iran and the US appear to have differing definitions of what this means.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) released the coordinates of where it indicates it has planted underwater explosives in the Strait of Hormuz.

Tehran claims the map provides a safe corridor for oil tankers using the passage, where normally around 20% of the world’s oil passes every day.

Donald Trump yesterday declared the passage was officially open, but it was closed again after just two tankers made it through.

Though the ceasefire requires the free reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, reports on Wednesday suggested Iran wanted to put a toll of up to $1 million on each ship.

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