Iran Gains Leverage Over Strait of Hormuz After Ceasefire With U.S.

The United States and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire on April 7.

Trump announced he would suspend bombing on the condition that Iran reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Al Jazeera

Iran said it had again closed the strait following Israeli attacks on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.

The Strait of Hormuz was formally treated as an international waterway before the war.

Tehran has moved from shadowing tankers to effectively dictating terms.

The ceasefire was negotiated around Iranian conditions, delivering gains it previously did not have.

Iran emerged from the conflict bruised but with significant leverage.

Fawaz Gerges called the war Trump's grave strategic miscalculation.

Al Jazeera

Iran's leadership remains firmly in control despite economic and infrastructure damage.

Iran absorbed the blows while retaining core instruments of power.

The war enabled Iran to control and monetize traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran's control over the Strait of Hormuz gave it enormous leverage over the global economy.

Only six or fewer ships were transiting daily during the conflict.

Iran permitted ships from China, Russia, India, Iraq, and Pakistan to transit freely.

The economic consequences cascaded beyond energy markets.

Trump suggested the U.S. could try to get in on the profits from tolls.

For Gulf countries, the Strait remains a non-negotiable red line.

The six Gulf Cooperation Council countries welcomed the ceasefire but stressed the Strait must reopen.

BBC

Saudi analyst Ali Shihabi said any outcome leaving the waterway in Iranian hands would be a defeat for Trump.

The war transformed Hormuz into an explicit instrument of leverage and coercion.

The fragile ceasefire does not appear to dismantle Iran's toll-collection arrangement.