*Strait Will Never Be Closed Again, Says Trump
*Global Oil Prices Tumble, Nigeria Petrol Cost May Fall Too
*Iran’s Uranium Will Be Taken To US, Trump Claims
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said that the Strait of Hormuz is now fully open to commercial vessels, reinforcing hopes for an eventual end to the war in the Middle East and sending oil prices tumbling despite analysts’ warnings that there will be no immediate widespread resumption of passage through the vital waterway which carries about a fifth of global oil shipping.
The Strait’s closure by Iran shortly after the conflict began on 28 February has spiked the price of oil, fuelled inflation and threatens a deep economic crisis that could trigger recessions around the world.
In a barrage of social media posts, US President Donald Trump had claimed on Friday that Iran had agreed never to close the strategic waterway again, hailing “A GREAT AND BRILLIANT DAY FOR THE WORLD!”
However, Araghchi’s pledge was given only qualified support by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which has reinforced its already powerful authority in Tehran during the war.
Trump also said that Iran had agreed to indefinitely suspend its nuclear programme, and would not receive any frozen funds from the US.
In an interview with Bloomberg, he said that talks over a deal to end the war would “probably” be held this weekend.
Araghchi’s statement that the strait was “declared completely open” came as a new 10-day truce in Lebanon entered its first full day, partly pausing fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah Islamist militant movement and offering a fragile relief in parts of the country after weeks of relentless Israeli airstrikes that have killed hundreds of civilians.
Trump said that Israel would cease attacks on Lebanon, claiming: “They are PROHIBITED from doing so by the U.S.A.”
Iranian state television quoted a senior military official saying commercial vessels would be allowed to travel through the Strait of Hormuz but only along a determined route and with the permission of the IRGC Navy.
The US blockade of Iranian ports and shipping will remain in place for the moment, Trump said, and few vessels are likely to risk passage through the Strait in such uncertain circumstances, meaning any return to normality is still distant.
“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,” the US President posted on his Truth Social network, adding that “this process should go very quickly.”
Iran Has Agreed To Never Close Strait Again -Trump
In his tenth Truth Social post in an hour, Friday, Trump said that Iran “has agreed to never close the Strait of Hormuz again.”
“It will no longer be used as a weapon against the World!” Trump stated.
“A GREAT AND BRILLIANT DAY FOR THE WORLD!” Trump wrote in a post moments before.
‘Iran’s Enriched Uranium Will Be Brought To US’
Tump told Reuters in an interview on Friday that Washington will work with Tehran to recover Iran’s enriched uranium to bring back to the US.
“We’re going to get it together. We’re going to go in with Iran, at a nice leisurely pace, and go down and start excavating with big machinery… We’ll bring it back to the United States,” Trump said.
He referred to “nuclear dust” – a reference to what he believes remains after the US and Israel bombed Iran’s nuclear installations last year – and said it would be retrieved “very soon.”
Trump has repeatedly said that a primary reason for the war was to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.
Iran has 440.9kg of uranium enriched to 60% uranium-235, a level that can be quickly enriched to weapons-grade – 90%, but has long maintained that its enrichment of uranium was strictly for peaceful civilian use.
When asked by Reuters about a report that the US was considering a $20bn cash for uranium deal, Trump said: “It’s totally false. No money is changing hands.”
Oil Falls 10% After Strait Reopening
The oil price is tumbling, after Iran announced that the Strait of Hormuz is now open.
Crude oil has plunged on hopes that energy supplies could resume after weeks of disruption.
Brent crude, the benchmark for oil traded globally, has plunged below $90 a barrel, a 10% fall.
It is expected that with the fall, prices of fuel in Nigeria will follow suit.
Over the past couple of weeks, especially within the war period, the prices of a litre of petrol in filling stations across the country dipped and skyrocketed depending on global rates.
As of Friday, the price hovered around N1300-N1400 in different parts of the West African oil-producing giant -a development that worsened the already dire cost-of-living crisis and ground more Nigerians in the dust of poverty with immense public pressure buffeting government to erect sustainable solutions.
*PHOTO CAPTION: A vessel on the Strait of Hormuz.
