‘Completely Unacceptable’: White House Demands Strait of Hormuz Be Opened Amid Report Iran Closed It Again

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt slammed Iran for reports the country had closed the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, less than one day after it agreed to a 2-week ceasefire deal with President Donald Trump.

Leavitt called the move “completely unacceptable” during a press briefing on Wednesday afternoon — while also saying the Trump administration believes the report is incorrect.

“Iranian state media is saying that Iran has now closed off the Strait of Hormuz today in response to Israeli attacks on Lebanon. What’s the White House response to that?” NBC reporter Gabe Gutierrez asked.

“Well, with respect to the first reporting out of Iranian state media, the president was made aware of those reports before I came to the podium. That is completely unacceptable,” Leavitt said. “And again, this is a case of what they’re saying publicly is different [than] privately.”

She continued:

We have seen an uptick of traffic in the strait today. And I will reiterate the president’s expectation and demand that the Strait of Hormuz is reopened immediately, quickly and safely. That is his expectation.

It has been relayed to him privately that that is what’s taking place and these reports publicly are false.

Trump announced he had halted planned strikes on Iran’s power plants and bridges on Tuesday night, about 90 minutes before the deadline he gave the country hit.

The president celebrated the move in a social media post early on Wednesday morning, saying Iran and the rest of the world “have had enough” of the war.

Trump added the United States would be “hangin’ around” the Strait of Hormuz to make sure everything goes smoothly and so that “big money” could be made. The price of oil has plummeted since then, dropping from north of $100 per barrel to about $74 on Wednesday afternoon — which makes the question of whether or not the Strait of Hormuz was closed so critical.

Watch above via CNN.

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