Iran’s Top Negotiator Says Hormuz Strait Will Never Go Back to What It Was Before the War

Iran’s parliament speaker and chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf declared that Tehran will permanently manage the Strait of Hormuz under international rules and that the pre-war arrangement is gone for good.

Ghalibaf Makes His Position Clear on Hormuz

Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf who also leads Iran’s negotiating team in talks with the United States made a striking declaration on June 23. He said the Strait of Hormuz will never return to its pre-war state. Ghalibaf left no room for ambiguity: Tehran will control the waterway going forward, though it will honour international maritime rules.

“Everyone should know that the management of the Strait of Hormuz will never go back to what it was before the war,” Ghalibaf stated. “Of course, international rules will be observed but Iran will manage the Strait of Hormuz.”

A New Chapter for One of the World’s Most Critical Waterways

Ghalibaf made these remarks while speaking to Iranian state media on a flight back from Switzerland. He said he hopes navigation through the strait resumes soon bringing prosperity back to regional and global economies. He also confirmed that the release of frozen Iranian assets and the resumption of Iranian oil sales were both discussed in the Switzerland talks.

The Strait of Hormuz the narrow chokepoint linking the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea carries roughly 20% of the world’s seaborne oil trade. It has been the flashpoint at the heart of the US-Iran confrontation that erupted on February 28, 2026.

How the War and Ceasefire Unravelled

The conflict began when the United States and Israel launched coordinated airstrikes against Iran on February 28. Iran responded swiftly closing the Strait of Hormuz to foreign shipping and launching missile and drone strikes against Israeli and US targets across the region.

After weeks of intense fighting and several failed ceasefires, Iran and the United States reached a landmark agreement. On June 17, 2026 during a dinner at the Palace of Versailles following the G7 summit US President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed a Memorandum of Understanding. The MoU outlines timelines for the US to lift its naval blockade of Iranian ports and for Iran to restore shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

The Memorandum and What It Means for Hormuz

Pakistan, which served as the primary mediator throughout the conflict, announced on June 18 that the MoU’s signing means Tehran will promptly reopen the Hormuz Strait and that Washington’s naval blockade of Iranian ports will cease immediately.

The MoU gives both sides a 30-day window to remove their respective blockades. It also opens a 60-day negotiation period for a final deal covering nuclear constraints, sanctions relief, and frozen Iranian assets. However, the memorandum notably leaves room for Iran, in coordination with Oman, to introduce fees for ships using the strait beyond the 60-day window.

Ghalibaf’s statement on Tuesday reinforces what Tehran’s negotiators have signalled throughout: Iran now views control of the Strait of Hormuz as a sovereign achievement of the war one it has no intention of surrendering.