All ships can sail through the Strait of Hormuz but this needs to be coordinated ‌with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a senior Iranian official told Reuters, adding that unfreezing Iranian funds was part of the deal.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi wrote on X that the strait was open after a ceasefire accord was agreed in Lebanon, while U.S. President Donald Trump said he believed a deal to end the Iran war would come “soon”, although the timing remains unclear.

Hundreds ​of ships and 20,000 seafarers have remained stranded inside the Gulf waiting to pass through the key waterway, which handles about 20% of the ​world’s oil and liquefied natural gas flows.

The Iranian official said transits would be restricted to lanes that Iran deemed safe, ⁠adding that military vessels were still prohibited from crossing the strait.

“Releasing Iran’s funds was part of the agreement for reopening the strait,” the official noted, referring ​to an estimated $30 billion in frozen revenue, generated mainly from oil and gas exports, blocked amid U.S. sanctions on Tehran.

It was not immediately clear if this included or ​excluded the established Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) lanes for entering and exiting the Gulf used by international shipping since the 1970s.

“Even U.S. vessels would be permitted, excluding military ships,” he said.

The official added that certain routes through Hormuz would remain open, but added that those would need to be determined as secure by Iran.

“Navigation would take place in coordination with Iran, and with ​authorisation from the Guards and Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization to ensure the safety of shipping,” the official said.

Shortly after Araqchi’s statement, U.S. President Donald Trump ​posted on Truth Social: “IRAN HAS JUST ANNOUNCED THAT THE STRAIT OF IRAN IS FULLY OPEN AND READY FOR PASSAGE”.

Trump added that the U.S. military blockade of ships sailing through the ‌strait to ⁠and from Iranian ports, announced after talks with Iran last weekend in Pakistan which ended without agreement, remained in place.

Iranian state media, citing an unnamed official, said if the U.S. blockade persists, Tehran will consider it a violation of ceasefire and will re-close strait.

Iran could let ships sail freely through the Omani side of the strait without risk of attack under proposals Tehran has offered in talks with the U.S., providing a deal is clinched to prevent renewed conflict, a source briefed by ​Tehran told Reuters this week.

Iran has warned of mines placed ⁠in the strait, a threat taken seriously by ship owners, insurance underwriters, and firms sending cargo.

That threat is not fully understood and avoidance of the area by ships should be considered, a U.S. Navy advisory said on Friday.

“Status of TSS mine ​threat is not fully understood. Consider avoidance of that area,” the US Navy’s U.S. NCAGS agency said in the ​advisory sent to mariners ⁠and seen by Reuters.

It was not immediately clear whether the advisory was sent before or after the announcement about the strait being open.

Shipping industry associations said they were reviewing the situation.

“The announcement … by U.S. President Donald Trump that the Strait of Hormuz is fully open is inaccurate. The status of mine threats in the Traffic Separation Scheme ⁠is unclear,” ​said Jakob Larsen, chief safety and security officer with shipping association BIMCO.

“BIMCO believes shipping companies should ​consider avoiding the area”.

The UN’s shipping agency, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), said it was reviewing the situation.

“We are currently verifying the recent announcement related to the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, in terms ​of its compliance with freedom of navigation for all merchant vessels and secure passage,” said IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi announced on Friday that the Strait of Hormuz has been fully reopened to commercial shipping following the ceasefire in Lebanon.

In a statement posted on X, Araghchi said that all commercial vessels will be allowed to pass through the strategic waterway for the remaining period of the ceasefire.

He added that transit will take place along a coordinated route previously announced by Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump expressed appreciation on Truth Social for Iran’s decision to reopen the Strait of Hormuz completely.

China is accelerating its efforts to end the Iran war, walking a diplomatic tightrope as it prepares for a summit next month with U.S. President Donald Trump while trying not to alienate Tehran, Reuters reported.

President Xi Jinping’s mid-May meeting with Trump is shaping Beijing’s approach to the Middle East conflict even as the world’s top crude oil importer, reliant on the Middle East ‌for half its fuel, seeks to safeguard its energy supplies, analysts say.

China’s modulated approach to the war has protected its back-channel leverage enough that Trump credited Beijing with helping to get Iran to last weekend’s peace talks in Pakistan.

“You’ve heard President Trump repeatedly mention how the Chinese talked to the Iranians,” said Eric Olander, editor-in-chief of the China-Global South Project, an independent organisation that analyses China’s engagement in the developing world. “That puts them in the room with negotiators, even if it’s not a seat at the table.”

Considering Trump transactional and susceptible to flattery, China is seeking to advance its goals on trade and its claims on Taiwan at the summit, people familiar with China’s thinking told Reuters.

The dominant view in Beijing is to “butter him up, give ⁠him a red-carpet welcome and preserve strategic stability”, one person said.

China’s Foreign Ministry did not respond to questions about its diplomacy ahead of the summit, the first visit by a U.S. president in eight years. Trump says it will take place May 14 and 15.

With the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports as a direct and growing threat, China has engaged in a flurry of diplomatic activity and refrained from strong criticism of Trump’s conduct of the war so that the summit, postponed once by the conflict, can go smoothly, analysts say.

Xi broke his silence on the crisis on Tuesday with a four-point peace plan that calls for upholding peaceful coexistence, national sovereignty, the international rule of law and balancing development and security.

After Trump warned Iran that “the entire country can be taken out in one night”, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning avoided condemnation, saying only that China was “deeply concerned” and urging all sides to play a “constructive role in de-escalating the situation”.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi has held nearly 30 calls and meetings with counterparts seeking a ceasefire, according to a Reuters count, while special envoy Zhai Jun has toured five Gulf and Arab capitals.

Travelling at one point by road to avoid contested airspace, Zhai could hear air-raid sirens, he told ‌reporters.

Xi announced ⁠his peace plan in a meeting with Abu Dhabi’s crown prince, Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, as he sought to deepen ties with a rival to Iran while pressing Tehran towards dialogue.

China’s “sense of urgency and the mode of intervention at the tactical level are shifting” as the war, which the U.S. and Israel launched on February 28, drags on, said Cui Shoujun, a professor of international affairs at Renmin University.

Still, some analysts say, Iran needs China more than China needs Iran, allowing Beijing to press for a ceasefire while protecting the summit with Trump.

“Beijing’s ideal outcome,” said Drew Thompson, a senior fellow at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of ⁠International Studies, “is the maintenance of no-strings-attached relationships with anti-Western countries like Iran but also preserving its opportunity to achieve some form of modus vivendi with the U.S.”

While China played a role in getting Iran to talk to the U.S., its ability to shape decisions is limited, as it lacks a military presence in the Middle East capable of backing up its words, read the report.

Some observers say China’s energetic Middle East diplomacy is more theatre than statecraft.

“While the Iranians are keen ⁠to play up their relationship with China and have asked Beijing to serve as a guarantor of a ceasefire, Beijing has shown zero interest in assuming such a role,” said Patricia Kim of the Brookings Institution. “Beijing appears content to remain on the sidelines as the United States bears the brunt of the pressure.”

At the summit with Trump, China may agree to buy Boeing aircraft, a deal held back for years ⁠over regulatory concerns that could be the biggest such order in history, as well as significant agricultural purchases.

The meeting is likely to be narrowly focused, analysts say, avoiding ambitious topics such as AI governance, market access and manufacturing overcapacity.

“There is zero chance China will reach some sort of grand bargain with the United States,” said Scott Kennedy, trustee chair in Chinese business and economics at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.