Ship-tracking data showed that several vessels, including some that had been docked at Iranian ports, had moved through the strait as the U.S. military began its blockade.
The United States proposed a 20-year “suspension” of all nuclear activity, even as President Trump demands assurances that Iran can never build a nuclear weapon.
President Trump is trying to choke off the country’s lifeline with a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. But the Iranians are betting that his tolerance for political pain is limited.
President Trump’s announcement of a U.S. blockade was his latest effort to pressure Iran to negotiate after direct talks over the weekend did not yield an agreement.
Israel’s campaign targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon has been a source of tension in the U.S.-Iran cease-fire. Israeli and Lebanese officials plan to meet for rare talks in Washington this week.
In Tyre, a city on Lebanon’s coast, near-daily bombardments by Israel have killed and injured civilians, and left many searching for shelter.
A day after a pause in fighting was announced between the United States and Iran, many questions remained, including the status of the Strait of Hormuz.
President Trump said that “we have already met and exceeded” his military objectives. But his goals are largely unresolved.
The plan, which reasserts Iran’s control of the Strait of Hormuz and maintains the country’s right to nuclear enrichment, is not the same as the one President Trump said was a “workable basis” for negotiations.
A handful of vessels have crossed the crucial waterway since the U.S.-Iran truce began, but shipowners, insurers and others are wary of safe passage.