April 28: Iran bolsters regional position with Strait of Hormuz control as US strategy falters

By Press TV Website Staff

Iran on Tuesday reinforced its position as the decisive power in West Asia, asserting full authority over the Strait of Hormuz, while the US position continued to falter. 

Senior Iranian defense officials declared that Tehran will determine the security protocols of the vital strategic waterway once the US-Israeli war of aggression ends.

New disclosures from the Army confirmed that the Iranian Air Force had struck hostile bases in Iraq’s Erbil, as well as targets in Kuwait and Qatar, at the outset of the 40-day imposed war, demonstrating operational reach that caught US planners off balance.

Diplomatically, Iran showcased expanding strategic depth. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi praised the strengthening Tehran-Moscow partnership, Russia’s defense minister vowed mutual support, and a Japanese supertanker secured rare safe passage only after receiving direct Iranian approval.

Global economic warnings underscored the consequences of Washington’s failed aggression, with the World Bank projecting a major surge in energy prices in 2026. 

 Key developments on day 60 of the war, the twenty-first day of the ceasefire:​​​​​​

• Brigadier General Reza Talaei Nik, Iranian Deputy Defense Minister, said the country would allow passage through the Strait of Hormuz after the end of the US-Israeli war of aggression under protocols that protect Iran’s security.
• General Talaei-Nik said the United States is no longer in a position to dictate its policies to independent nations, adding that this reality has been demonstrated to the world through the resilience of the Iranian people and armed forces.
• Brigadier General Mohammad Akraminia, the Army spokesman, said the Iranian Army’s Air Force carried out multiple sorties against enemy bases in regional countries, including an anti-Iran group’s base in Erbil, Iraq, as well as targets in Kuwait and Qatar, at the outset of the US-Israeli war against Iran.
• Iran categorically stated that any disruption or obstruction in maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and surrounding waters is the direct responsibility of the US and its allies, whose reckless and illegal actions have turned a vital international waterway into a zone of heightened tension and danger.
• Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi praised the unbreakable strategic partnership between Iran and Russia, stressing that recent regional developments have only served to highlight the depth and resilience of their ties.
• Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said the EU’s insistence on inhumane sanctions against Iran demonstrates Europe’s double standards and hastens its “embarrassing descent into irrelevance.” On Monday, European Commission President Ursula Vonder Leyen said that “it is too early to talk about lifting sanctions on Iran.”
• Iran’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN, Amir Saeed Iravani, said Iran, not being a party to the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, maintains its legal right to take “necessary and proportionate measures” in the Strait of Hormuz, and holds the United States responsible for any disruption to maritime traffic in the strategic waterway.
• Andrey Belousov, Russia's Minister of Defense, expressed confidence that Moscow and Tehran would stand in support of each other amid the situation arising from the US's unlawful aggression targeting the Islamic Republic.
• A Japanese-owned supertanker, Idemitsu Maru, carrying two million barrels of crude oil, successfully transited the Strait of Hormuz after securing permission from Iranian authorities, marking a rare passage through the strategic waterway since the launch of the US-Israeli war on Iran.
• The World Bank said energy prices are projected to surge by 24% in 2026 due to severe disruptions caused by the illegal US-Israeli aggression on Iran.
• Iran's national football team is pressing forward with its 2026 World Cup preparations, with officials naming the team's convoy "Minab 168" as a tribute to schoolchildren killed in the US-Israeli strikes in Minab, southern Iran.
• The United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced a decision to exit the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the extended OPEC+ alliance, effective May 1.
• Israel’s military issued new displacement orders for residents of more than a dozen villages and towns in southern Lebanon amid widespread violations of a ceasefire agreement by the occupying regime.
• Passenger flights between Iran and China, as well as between Iran and Russia, resumed after a two-month suspension caused by the US-Israeli war of aggression against Iran.
• Bahrain sentenced five individuals to life imprisonment on fabricated charges of plotting “terrorist acts” in collaboration with Iran.

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