US President Donald Trump said the Strait of Hormuz is already partially opened and shipping is beginning. He added that the strait will be completely opened on Friday. The statement follows a series of contradictory reports and leaks between the US and Iran over the timeline of the reopening under a pending MOU.
President Donald Trump stated at 19:34 Monday that the Strait of Hormuz is 'already partially opened' with ships beginning to sail, and that it will be 'completely opened' on Friday. The remark, the latest in a rapid sequence of statements from the president tonight, was published without an official White House transcript or additional detail as of the time of reporting.
This statement follows a chain of conflicting claims the same evening. At 16:14, as The Zioneer reported, Trump said oil tankers were already sailing out, contradicting Iranian reports that the strait would not reopen until a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed Friday. By 17:43, a senior U.S. official told reporters — via journalists Barak Ravid and Barak Betesh — that Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf had all signed the MOU, calling the strait's reopening immediate. At 19:11, Trump declared the 'entire deal is signed and sealed.' Now, at 19:34, he appears to soften the timeline, describing the opening as already partially underway but placing full reopening at week's end.
The background to these evolving statements is an MOU negotiation detailed in both Israeli and Iranian media over recent days. As The Zioneer reported on Sunday at 07:47 Jerusalem, Israel Hayom described Trump as convinced that reopening the strait and lowering oil prices is essential to avert a global recession, driving him to finalize a practical first-step agreement. On Monday at 14:15, Iran's Tasnim reported last-minute changes to the MOU's text and noted that Iran had not accepted Trump's demand for an immediate opening, agreeing instead for the process to begin after a Friday signing.
It remains unclear whether the partial opening Trump now describes has actually begun — no independent confirmation of ship movements through the strait has been reported. The discrepancy between the official U.S. claim of a signed, immediate-opening MOU and Trump's own later framing of a phased reopening remains unresolved.
9 developments
- StrongTrump says Strait of Hormuz to reopen as early as Saturday or Monday
- StrongTrump says tankers are sailing out of Strait of Hormuz, contradicting Iranian reports
- StrongTrump: US and Iran close to 60-day ceasefire deal, Strait of Hormuz to reopen
- DevelopingReport: Trump demands immediate, non-phased reopening of Strait of Hormuz and end to naval blockade
Source and signal
- Internal intake