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Hormuz passage threatened
Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said on Tuesday that the Iranian Armed Forces will bar vessels belonging to any company or nation that accepts funds drawn from Iran’s frozen assets, according to a statement by spokesperson Abolfazl Zolfaqari.
The warning was framed as a response to US President Donald Trump’s plan to use seized Iranian funds as compensation, with Zolfaqari saying the US president announced plans to pay compensation “from Iran’s frozen assets” for vessels damaged during the imposed war against Islamic Iran.
Zolfaqari added that the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran “will not grant passage through the Strait of Hormuz to any of their vessels,” linking the restriction directly to companies and countries accepting Trump’s proposal.
Middle East Eye similarly reported that Iran threatened to bar countries and companies from the Strait of Hormuz if they receive money drawn from frozen Iranian assets, describing the Khatam al-Anbiya command’s restrictions as applying to “All companies and countries that welcome Trump’s proposal and use Iran’s blocked assets.”
Trump’s compensation plan
US President Donald Trump said the United States would draw on Iranian funds under American control to compensate for damages caused by recent attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One as he traveled to an event in Michigan.
Trump described the plan as using “Iran’s money to pay for the damage they did,” and said “the Iran money that we control will be used to pay for damages.”
Mehr News Agency reported that Iran’s warning came after Trump’s remarks about using seized Iranian funds as compensation, while Middle East Eye said Iran denounced the proposal as “incendiary” and called the command’s response an “illegal action.”
In parallel, Iran’s state media and the Central Headquarters of Khatam al-Anbia were cited by فلسطين أون لاين as rejecting Trump’s statements, with the report saying Tehran “will not allow that” and that the decision includes any entity that receives Iranian frozen funds within a compensation mechanism for damages to its ships.
Escalation and negotiation signals
The Iranian response was described as an escalation tied to maritime access, with Mehr News Agency saying the Armed Forces would bar passage through the Strait of Hormuz for vessels tied to any company or nation accepting funds drawn from Iran’s frozen assets.
In Iran’s framing, the Strait of Hormuz connects the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and is described as one of the world’s most important sea routes, with فلسطين أون لاين stating that “a large share of global energy exports passes” through it.
Trump, meanwhile, told reporters aboard Air Force One that “We will use Iran's money to pay compensation for the damage to the ships,” and said “In other words, we will use the money from Iran that we control to compensate for the losses.”
Iran’s position on negotiations and the status of the strait also appeared in إيران اینترنشنال, where Ismail Baqi was quoted stating that “there is no such thing as a ceasefire” and that the strait remains closed, while CBS News was cited as saying negotiations between Tehran and Muscat on reopening the Hormuz Strait had made progress but still needed more time to reach a final agreement.
