How Strait of Hormuz dispute led to latest US-Iran cycle of fighting

Published 9 July 2026 · india

Clashing interpretations of vague memorandum of understanding language on Hormuz at heart of escalation, analysts say. When Iran faced an all-out war against the United

Clashing interpretations of vague memorandum of understanding language on Hormuz at heart of escalation, analysts say. When Iran faced an all-out war against the United States and Israel, Tehran did not respond with missiles and drones alone; it shut down the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for global energy. As Iran and the US moved towards a ceasefire, Iran saw control of the Strait of Hormuz as a strategic gain it was unwilling to relinquish. But Washington wanted the waterway to return to its pre-war status as a free-for-all international shipping lane. That fundamental disagreement over the strait is at the core of the renewed clashes between the two countries, analysts say. The ongoing skirmishes started on Monday after at least three suspected Iranian attacks on commercial ships sailing outside the route designated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The US responded with waves of strikes against dozens of targets on the southern shores of Iran. In turn, Iran retaliated with missile and drone attacks against US bases across the region. US President Donald Trump declared on Wednesday that the memorandum of understanding (MoU) that established the truce and negotiations process between the two countries was “over”. More fighting followed on Thursday. “The MoU committed both sides to keeping the Strait open through coordinated arrangements for safe commercial navigation, not unilateral action,” Negar Mortazavi, a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy. “From Tehran’s perspective, that means any passage or maritime security arrangements should be coordinated with Iran.” Some ships have been hugging the Omani coast and passing through the strait without coordinating with Iran, a move that Mortazavi says establishes “parallel shipping routes and security mechanisms” in the strait without Tehran. “Iran sees that as a direct violation of the MoU, and that’s why Hormuz has become the first major test of how the agreement will be interpreted and enforced,” she told Al Jazeera. What does the MoU say?

The text of the deal is not definitive when it comes to Hormuz. While it tasks Iran with de-mining and ensuring safe navigation in the strait, it says ships must pass free of charge for the first 60 days of the MoU. The time period does not rule out that Iran may set up a toll system as part of a final agreement. At the same time, the memorandum says that Iran would hold discussions with Oman and Gulf countries to “define the future administration and maritime services” in the waterway “in line with applicable international law and the sovereign rights of coastal states of the Strait of Hormuz”. The conflicting interpretations by the two sides render parts of the MoU contradictory. “The text of the memorandum itself doesn’t exactly say much about how things are going to look during the implementation of the agreement,” said Ryan Costello, the policy director at the Iranian American Council (NIAC). “Iran interprets it as Iran controlling who goes where, whereas the US has sought to undermine that and set up essentially a second transit route through the Strait.” The US military’s CENTCOM in the Middle East shared a social media post on Thursday, presented as a fact check, denying that passage through Hormuz is permitted only via routes designated by Iran. “TRUTH: Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz. Since early May, US forces have helped facilitate the successful transit of more than 800 commercial vessels and 380 million barrels of crude oil through the vital international trade corridor,” CENTCOM said. For Iran, oversight on Hormuz is essential, experts say, not just because of the potential fees that could run in the tens of billions of dollars annually, but as a means of deterrence against future attacks by the US and Israel. In his first statement as supreme leader after succeeding his slain father in March, Mojtaba Khamenei underscored the importance of control over the waterway.