Despite the ceasefire between Iran and the US and Israel, the Strait of Hormuz remained shuttered to international maritime traffic on Wednesday and Thursday.

Iran’s deputy foreign minister said his country will allow ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz in accordance with “international norms and international law” once the United States ends its “aggression” in the Middle East and Israel stops attacking Lebanon.

Saeed Khatibzadeh told the BBC on Thursday that Iran had closed the strait after U.S. ally Israel committed an “intentional grave violation of the ceasefire.”

He said “you cannot have a cake and eat it at the same time. That was the message that Iran sent quite clearly, crystal-clearly, to Washington and to the Oval Office last night.”

Khatibzadeh added: “Definitely we are going to provide security for safe passage and it is going to happen after the United States actually withdraws this aggression. Does it mean that Iran is going to control the Strait of Hormuz in terms of letting ship by ship to go through that?

“I think that we have shown to everybody that energy security is pivotal for Iran, is pivotal for this body of water in the Persian Gulf, and we are going to be abided by the international norms and international law.”

Meanwhile, just three vessels transited the strait on the first day of the ceasefire, all with current or past links to Iran, the Lloyd’s List Intelligence maritime intelligence firm said Thursday.

Iran’s approval system for ships granted safe passage – after vetting by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps – remains unchanged despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s demand for the strait to be reopened.

Last week was the busiest week since the start of the war with 72 passages, still 90% below normal volumes, Lloyd’s said. Most of the vessels allowed through are connected to Iran, although some Indian vessels have gotten through with diplomatic intervention by the Indian government.

The US demanded on Wednesday that Iran immediately reopen the Strait of Hormuz after the Islamic Republic claimed that it closed the waterway in response to Israeli attacks against the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon. US President Donald Trump had previously stated that Lebanon was not included in the ceasefire.

On Thursday morning, Trump threatened Iran that the war will resume if it fails to reopen the strait, warning that all US military assets will remain in the region until the Islamic Republic complies with a “real agreement.”

(AP & YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

(YWN’s Jerusalem desk is keeping you updated on Isru Chag in Israel)