Ammon News - Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf on Saturday accused US President Donald Trump of making multiple false claims, dismissing them as ineffective in both conflict and negotiations.

He warned that Iran could close the Strait of Hormuz again if the US blockade continues, adding that any passage would require Iranian approval and be dictated by on-the-ground realities, not rhetoric.

Tehran threatened on Saturday to shut the Strait of Hormuz once more if the United States continues its blockade of Iranian ports, hours after Iran announced it had reopened the strategic waterway in the wake of a ceasefire in Lebanon.

The potential for the resumption of transit had lifted stock markets on Friday and prompted optimism from Washington, with President Donald Trump telling AFP a broader US-Iran peace deal was "very close" and saying Tehran had agreed to hand over its enriched uranium – a key sticking point in negotiations.

"We're going to get it by going in with Iran, with lots of excavators," Trump said at an event in Arizona.

Iran, however, pushed back on the claim, saying its stockpile of enriched uranium was not going anywhere.

It also warned that if US warships intercepted vessels coming from Iranian ports, the Strait of Hormuz – a key global trade artery through which about a fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas typically passes – could be closed again.

AFP