LAST UPDATE | 11 hrs ago

THE STRAIT OF Hormuz is to be “completely open” to commercial shipping for the duration of Iran’s current ceasefire agreement with the US, the country’s foreign minister has said. 

France and the UK will lead a multinational mission to ensure freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz as “soon as conditions allow”, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said after co-chairing a meeting on the issue with French President Emmanuel Macron.

Meanwhile US president Donald Trump said Iran was removing mines from the Strait of Hormuz with US assistance.

Oil prices plunged more than 10 percent and European stocks were higher in afternoon trading, with both Frankfurt and Paris gaining two percent.

The vital shipping route is “declared completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire, on the coordinated route as already announced by Ports and Maritime Organisation of the Islamic Rep. of Iran”.

Minister Abbas Araghchi made the announcement in a post on X this afternoon. 

The news that cargo ships and oil tankers will once again be able to freely use the route comes after the US announced in recent days that it would begin its own naval blockade.

Around 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas is typically transported throughout the strait, and its closure has had major impacts worldwide since the start of the conflict at the end of February. 

Three Iranian oil tankers carrying a total of five million barrels of crude have become the first such loaded vessels to leave the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz since a US blockade came into force, the tracking firm Kpler told AFP.

US president Donald Trump welcomed the news in an all-caps post on Truth Social, telling his followers: 

“IRAN HAS JUST ANNOUNCED THAT THE STRAIT OF IRAN IS FULLY OPEN AND READY FOR FULL PASSAGE. THANK YOU!”

The initial two-week ceasefire agreement is due to expire on Wednesday next. 

However, Trump said the US naval blockade of Iranian ports would remain in place until a peace deal with Tehran.

He also said he had rejected an offer from NATO to help secure the Strait of Hormuz after Iran said it had reopened, telling the US-led alliance to “STAY AWAY.”

“Now that the Hormuz Strait situation is over, I received a call from NATO asking if we would need some help. I TOLD THEM TO STAY AWAY, UNLESS THEY JUST WANT TO LOAD UP THEIR SHIPS WITH OIL,” Trump said on his Truth Social network.

“They were useless when needed, a Paper Tiger!”

With additional reporting from AFP.