Iran declares Strait of Hormuz 'completely open'
A cargo ship in the Gulf near the Strait of Hormuz on March 11.
PHOTO: Reuters file
PUBLISHED ONApril 17, 2026 1:45 PMBYSean LerIran has declared that passage for all commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz is "completely open".
This was announced by Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi in a X post at 8.45pm (Singapore time) on Friday (April 17).
"In line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage for all commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of the ceasefire," he wrote.
He added that the passage of vessels through the strait will be on the coordinated route announced by the Ports and Maritime Organisation of Iran.
In line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage for all commercial vessels through Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire, on the coordinated route as already announced by Ports and Maritime Organisation of the Islamic Rep. of Iran.
— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) April 17, 2026
A 10-day ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel went into effect on Thursday and US President Donald Trump said the next meeting between the US and Iran may take place over the weekend.
Following Araghchi's announcement, oil prices plunged by about 9 per cent to US$88 per barrel at the time of this report (9.30pm Singapore time).
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