The White House denied on Wednesday the reports from Iranian state media claiming that the Strait of Hormuz had been closed again, stating that maritime traffic in the passage increased throughout the day and that Iran had privately communicated that the route was being reopened.
The spokesperson Karoline Leavitt stated at a press conference that President Trump was informed of those reports before taking the podium and called them unacceptable. "The president was informed of those reports before I got to the podium. That is completely unacceptable," she asserted.
Leavitt highlighted the contradiction between Tehran's public statements and its private communications with Washington. "What they say publicly is different from what they say privately. We've seen an increase in traffic in the strait today," he noted, and reiterated Trump's demand for the passage to be reopened "immediately, quickly, and safely."
The spokesperson was categorical in closing the matter: "That is his expectation. It has been conveyed to him privately that this is what is happening. And these public reports are false."
The contradiction arose hours after the first ships crossed the strait following the announcement of a two-week truce between Washington and Tehran, mediated by Pakistan. The Daytona Beach crossed at 06:59 UTC and the NJ Earth at 08:44 UTC, being the first to do so since the start of the blockade. About 800 ships remained stranded in the Persian Gulf waiting to take advantage of the truce window.
However, the Fars agency, affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, reported that the passage of oil tankers had been halted in response to the largest Israeli airstrike against Hezbollah's infrastructure in Lebanon. Israel struck nearly 100 targets in Beirut, the Bekaa Valley, and southern Lebanon, resulting in at least 112 deaths and between 700 and 837 injuries according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.
The truce agreement, announced by Trump on Truth Social, explicitly excluded Lebanon from the outset. The Office of the Israeli Prime Minister confirmed that the ceasefire "does not include Lebanon", a position that Trump reaffirmed that same Wednesday. Trump had announced the suspension of bombings against Iran for two weeks following talks with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Marshal Asim Munir, conditional on the complete, immediate, and safe reopening of the strait.
The Strait of Hormuz accounts for 20% of the world's oil and 20% of the liquefied natural gas traded globally. The first closure, carried out by Iran on March 4 using mines, drones, and missiles, affected 2,000 ships with 20,000 sailors and caused the price of Brent crude to surge from 67 to over 126 dollars per barrel.
This episode highlights the fragility of the bilateral agreement and the tension generated by Israeli military operations in Lebanon, which are excluded from the ceasefire. Formal negotiations between Washington and Tehran are scheduled for April 10 in Islamabad, with Vice President JD Vance and Iranian representative Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf as the main interlocutors.
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