The Iran Brief — April 19, 2026

Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz again on Saturday — for the second time in roughly twenty-four hours. Tehran had briefly reopened the waterway to commercial shipping on Friday. Then, after Washington confirmed its naval blockade of Iranian ports would stay in place, Iran's military declared the Strait had, in their words, "returned to its previous state." More than a dozen commercial ships were transiting at the time. We'll have the full picture after you have the context to understand it.