Trump says U.S. has ‘good news’ on Iran as it closes Strait of Hormuz

President Donald Trump sounded optimistic about the progress of peace talks with Iran and said negotiations are continuing as a fragile ceasefire held, but Iranian media said on Saturday that the key Strait of Hormuz was closed to shipping traffic again after the U.S. failed to meet its obligations.

“We had some pretty good news 20 minutes ago, but it seems to be going very well in the Middle East with Iran,” Trump told reporters traveling to Washington on Air Force One, according to MS Now. “We’ll know over a little period of time. We’re negotiating over the weekend.”

A major sticking point in the negotiations has been the issue of recovering material from Iran’s nuclear program. Trump said the U.S. will “go in with Iran and we will take it together, and we will bring it back, 100% of it back to the United States”.

“We’ll take it after the agreement is signed,” he said.

Peace talks in the Pakistani capital Islamabad between a U.S. delegation led by Vice President JD Vance and Iranian negotiators headed by parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf failed to reach an agreement last weekend.

Trump added that he likely would not extend the two-week ceasefire that’s due to end on Wednesday and said that a blockade of Iranian ports would remain in place. U.S. and Israeli forces began an aerial campaign against Iranian targets on Feb. 28.

“Maybe I won’t extend it, but the blockade is going to remain. But maybe I won’t extend it, so you have a blockade, and unfortunately, we’ll have to start dropping bombs again,” Trump said.

Earlier on Friday, Iran declared the Strait of Hormuz is open to commercial ships during a separate ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, but confusion quickly emerged about whether the sea lane was really open without conditions.

Iranian state media said on Saturday that the Strait has since closed because of a failure by the U.S. to hold up its end of the bargain.

“Iran agreed to allow a limited number of ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz according to agreements,” the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) service said in a post on X.

“But U.S. did not fulfill their obligations. So, the Strait of Hormuz is now closed again and passage requires IRAN approval,” IRIB said.

On Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said on social media: “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.”

However, vessels must transit through a “coordinated route” announced by Iran’s maritime authorities, Araghchi said. It is unclear whether Tehran will force ships to pay a toll to pass the strait.

Israel and Lebanon agreed Thursday…