Washington, April 8 (IANS) A fragile ceasefire with Iran hinges on the immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the White House asserted Wednesday, even as it claimed sweeping military gains that forced Tehran to agree to negotiations after weeks of sustained strikes.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitte told reporters that restoring shipping through the vital energy corridor remains the central condition for continuing talks, with President Donald Trump insisting the passage must reopen “immediately, quickly and safely”.
“We fully expect Iran to do this, and the President has made that quite clear as well… this ceasefire is subject to the safe reopening of the Strait of Hormuz,” Leavitt said at a news conference.
She added that the administration was monitoring developments closely, noting there had already been “an uptick of traffic in the Strait today”.
The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world’s most critical oil transit routes, and any disruption has immediate implications for global markets, including energy-dependent economies such as India.
The ceasefire announcement followed what the administration described as a decisive US military campaign against Iran under “Operation Epic Fury”.
“This is a victory for the United States of America that the President and our incredible military made happen,” Leavitt said.
She said US forces had struck more than 13,000 targets across Iran in 38 days, destroying large parts of its defence industrial base and severely degrading its missile, drone, and naval capabilities.
“The United States has achieved and exceeded those core military objectives in just 38 days,” she said.
According to the White House, Iran’s navy was “completely annihilated”, its air force rendered “functionally and operationally irrelevant”, and its ability to support proxy groups significantly reduced.
The administration argued that this pressure forced Tehran to step back and seek a ceasefire.
“The President’s maximum pressure and the leverage created by the success of Operation Epic Fury led to the Iranian regime asking for and ultimately agreeing to a ceasefire proposal with the United States,” Leavitt said.
She added that Iran had “agreed to open the Strait of Hormuz” after facing a deadline set by Trump.
The White House also rejected earlier Iranian proposals as inadequate, saying an initial 10-point plan was “fundamentally unserious, unacceptable, and completely discarded”.
“It was literally thrown in the garbage by President Trump and his negotiating team,” Leavitt said.
Only after sustained military pressure, she said, did Tehran present a revised proposal that Washington considered a workable basis for negotiations.
Despite the ceasefire, the administration cautioned that the situation remains unstable.
“This is a fragile truce. Ceasefires are fragile by nature,” Leavitt said, pointing to disruptions in Iran’s command and control systems following repeated strikes.
She noted that damage to Iran’s leadership and communication structures could complicate implementation of the ceasefire in the short term.
The United States has now moved into a two-week negotiation window, with talks expected to focus on long-term security arrangements, including Iran’s nuclear programme and regional stability.
The Strait of Hormuz carries roughly a fifth of global oil supply, making its reopening central to both geopolitical stability and energy markets. Any prolonged disruption would directly affect major importers such as India, which sources a significant share of its crude from the Gulf.
–IANS
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