Return to Transcripts main page

The Situation Room

Iran Declares Strait of Hormuz Completely Open; World Leaders Gather as Iran Announces Reopening of Strait of Hormuz; Oil Prices Drop After Iran Says Strait of Hormuz is Completely Open. Aired 10- 10:30a ET

Aired April 17, 2026 - 10:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:00:00]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, breaking news, Iran and President Trump say the Strait of Hormuz is open. The country's foreign minister says that a crucial waterway is completely open to all commercial ships right now.

Plus, doubling down on his papal feud, President Trump with another dig at Pope Leo, saying he pontiff tneeds to understand that this is the, quote, real world.

And standing by for Supreme Court opinions, at any moment, the high court will issue decisions. We're waiting for rulings on voting rights, birthright citizenship, and President Trump's firing of federal officials.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Plus, projecting optimism. President Trump repeatedly saying the war with Iran will end, and I'm quoting him now, very shortly, teasing to watch what happens over the next week or so.

And U.S. allies speaking out. Any moment now, European leaders will be speaking about the Strait of Hormuz. We're going to bring that to you. That's coming up momentarily.

And acting ICE director out, Todd Lyons is announcing he's stepping down. The controversial agency has been without a Senate confirmed leader since the Obama administration, hard to believe.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer with Pamela Brown, and you're in The Situation Room.

And we begin with the breaking news. Just minutes ago, Iran's foreign minister declared that the Strait of Hormuz is completely open. As of now, the strait is expected to be open only for days, but the relief is clearly obvious. The vital shipping route supplies 20 percent of the world's oil, and the welcome news is driving down global oil prices right now.

We're covering all the latest developments of this very important story. Our correspondents are scattered across the region in Pakistan, as well as here in Washington, of course.

Let's begin with CNN's Nic Robertson, who's in Islamabad, Pakistan. Nic, this is all unfolding very, very quickly this morning. Update our viewers. What are you learning?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: So, what we know about the deal so far is that the Iranian foreign minister has tweeted that Iran has now opened the strait -- Iran has now opened the Strait of Hormuz. Direct -- sorry, we're having a few technical issues here -- that Iran has opened the Strait of Hormuz based on the fact that there is now a ceasefire in Lebanon. They're saying that this opening of the Strait of Hormuz for commercial shipping will last as long as the ceasefire in Lebanon lasts.

Now, it has a ten-day expiration date on it, but, of course, Iran is using this as a pressure point to make sure that that ceasefire in Lebanon lasts longer, it appears, to protect their proxy, Hezbollah, there from further attacks by Israel potentially.

But the key thing that it appears to do is to kind of breathe some momentum into those talks in Tehran. Pakistan's top mediators are in the Iranian capital. They've been meeting with the foreign minister. They're meeting with the lead negotiator there. They've met with the president of Iran. They've met with top generals in Iran. And the Iranians have praised the Pakistani mediators for being able to get this ceasefire in Lebanon.

So, this does seem to indicate that there is a level of trust building around the talks table in Tehran at the moment. Of course, the thorniest of issues still appear to be outstanding, and that is the United States need to have Iran declaratively say that it's not going to have a nuclear weapon.

Now, President Trump said he believes he has that. President Trump says he believes that he has a commitment from Iran to hand over what he calls their nuclear dust, but it does appear to be in the details of how that is handled. Technically, who does it, where that material goes, how long any kind of moratorium may last? These are all the technical details that will be the hardest bits to convince the Iranians to sort of move ground, give ground on.

And, of course, the Iranians in all of this have been saying they want reparations for war damage. They want cash there. They want sanctions lifted. So, we're talking here about potentially billions of dollars, including frozen assets they want back.

[10:05:00]

And it's not clear where that stands in the negotiations at the moment, but that Pakistani mediation team in Tehran are now into their third day of talks. It appears they're having some success. Can they drive this and get this over the line to allow talks or assigning here in Islamabad (INAUDIBLE).

BLITZER: All right. Nic Robertson on the scene for us in Islamabad, Pakistan, thank you very, very much. Pamela? BROWN: All right, Wolf. Let's go live now to CNN's Alayna Treene at the White House. So, Alayna, what are you hearing from the president and the administration about these developments this morning?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Look, I think clearly they are very happy about the Iranians' decision to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Of course, they say that is an agreement with the ceasefire. And it comes after the president declared yesterday a ten- day ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel. I am told that that ceasefire declaration has really had a positive impact, Pamela and Wolf, on the ongoing negotiations between Washington and Tehran.

And from all of the conversations I'm having with Trump administration officials, they're feeling very optimistic about their chances for an agreement at this point. Now, I think Nic did a very good job of laying out some of the remaining sticking points. One of them is, of course, the length of time that the Iranians would agree to suspend their enrichment of uranium. That has been a sticking point in past talks. That was a sticking point on Saturday, last Saturday in Islamabad. So, that's something that is still being worked out and, of course, trying to get and retrieve the nuclear materials, the nuclear dust, as the president calls it, in Iran.

And I will reference the president's latest statement that he posted on Truth Social here. He said that the USA will get all nuclear dust created by our great B-2 bombers, and said, no money will exchange hands in any way, shape, or form.

Now, that is something we are told, Wolf and Pamela, that is under consideration. This idea though -- I don't know if the president's making a distinction here, but this idea of the potential of unfreezing of assets, something that the Iranians clearly want.

And so, look, I think what we are learning today is that the talks that Nic referenced in Tehran between the Iranians and the Pakistanis, who have really been crucial here, intermediaries in these talks, they are having a level of success. And now they're trying to work on kind of massaging the contours of what could be a potential final agreement.

That is certainly the hope that this administration has. They are hoping that if they do make -- you know, top officials make another trip to Pakistan, that it will be for a potential more firm agreement, not just another round of talks is what we are hearing.

But, again, there's still several things that need to be finalized and worked out. But as of now, a lot of positive optimism that is driving the conversations here at the White House today.

BROWN: All right. Alayna Treene, thanks so much. Wolf?

BLITZER: I want to go live to our CNN Business Correspondent Eleni Giokos, who's in Dubai for us right now. Eleni, oil prices are dropping this morning. Are we seeing any traffic moving though through the strait, at least yet?

I think we just lost our connection with Eleni. We'll get back to her. She's in Dubai. We're watching all of this very, very closely. Pamela?

BROWN: We have a lot of news to get to, Wolf.

Still ahead here in The Situation Room, we're hearing from European leaders after the announcement from Iran's foreign minister, as leaders from 40 countries are meeting to discuss the Strait of Hormuz. Notably missing from the conversation, the United States.

We are live with the latest and we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:10:00]

BLITZER: Back to our breaking news right now, Iran announcing that the Strait of Hormuz is, in their words, completely open during the ten-day ceasefire in Lebanon.

I want to go live to our Business Correspondent Eleni Giokos, who's in Dubai for us. Eleni oil prices clearly are dropping this morning. Are we seeing any traffic moving through the strait yet?

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Not yet. And it's going to take some time. I've been speaking to a few of my sources here in the region and they say it's far more complicated than just an announcement from Iran saying the strait is completely open.

You've got WTI, which is the U.S. benchmark, that's down 10.5 percent. Brent Crude Oil, the international benchmark, also taking a huge knock today.

You've got to remember that we've seen these kind of big moves in oil whenever we hear a little bit of good news, specifically from President Trump. And now you're seeing sort of the overall situation changing in the Strait of Hormuz potentially.

But you've also got to keep in mind that Iran has said that they have placed mines in parts of the strait. They send a specific route that vessels need to take. You still have the U.S. naval blockade that is in the Gulf of Oman, which, of course, could complicate things, but shippers right now are taking this as a cue as very good news, but they're saying we should not get carried away because insurance companies are still charging very high fees for shippers to cross through the strait. Now, it's going to become an economic question.

You also have to keep in mind that Iran explicitly said this is for the duration of the ceasefire, which basically comes to an end in four days. That's on the 21st of April. There is an expectation that there's going to be, you know, some kind of agreement made before then, or even this ceasefire being extended. There is a lot of hope, but this is a good sign and hopefully we will see some actual traffic. But we are very reticent right now. We'll see it when we -- we'll believe it when we see it, Wolf.

[10:15:00]

That's the short of it.

BLITZER: And we'll stay in close touch with you. Good thing we reconnected.

Eleni Giokos, thank you very, very much. Pamela?

BROWN: And, Wolf, right now, dozens of leaders from around the world are taking part in this summit to figure out how and when shipping can permanently resume in the vital waterway.

Let's go live now to CNN Senior International Correspondent Melissa Bell in Paris. So, you have the leaders of Britain and France hosting this meeting, Melissa. What more are you learning?

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, really picking up from what Eleni was just telling you, the catch word here is prudence. We've heard from the French president already speaking to the fact that this is good news, but that one has to tread carefully and not get terribly carried away just yet. We've seen these kinds of moments of hope, as Eleni was just saying, over and over again.

Behind me, this has been a meeting here at the Elysee Palace that's brought together some 50 or so global organizations or countries, about 30 heads of state or government, including here in person the prime ministers of Italy and the United Kingdom, the French president, of course, and the German chancellor.

Now, the idea was that these were the nonbelligerent parties that were first in line for the effect of a war none of them had been consulted on. They got together without the United States or Iran in order to try and figure out how they could get the strait opened again and what pressure they could bring to bear and how they could put in place a sort of multinational force that could do things like de-mining but only once the ceasefire had been struck.

This is what Keir Starmer just had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: So, we've all agreed there was real unity in the meeting that we've just had. We want to see a return to talks and a lasting agreement, including the reopening of the strait.

We welcome the announcement that was made during our meeting but we need to make sure that that is both lasting and a workable proposal. And if anything, it reinforces the need for the work that we've been doing this afternoon because we're very clear that the mission that we are putting together is a defensive mission, and that comes after a ceasefire.

So, that's why we brought the international group together to indicate how we will play our part. And there are a number of elements. First, to deliver the diplomatic push for peace based on the fundamental principle that the straight should be reopened immediately with no tolls and no restrictions. And there was absolute unity on those points across all of the states attending today.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BELL: You heard there the British prime minister, there should be no tolls, there should be no blockades. Essentially, the rest of the world wants the situation of the Strait of Hormuz to go back to what it was before the war.

BROWN: All right. Melissa Bell in Paris, thanks so much. Wolf?

BLITZER: I want to discuss that and more Now with CNN Global Affairs Analyst and Iran expert Kareem Sadjapour. Also with us, the former NATO supreme allied commander, retired U.S. Army General Wesley Clark. To both of you, thanks very much for joining us.

So, Kareem, let me start with you on this major news from the Iranians announcing that the Strait of Hormuz is, in their words, completely open. It's been a source of leverage for Iran for some time now. What do you think? Does this suggest a peace deal? A real peace deal could be imminent?

KAREEM SADJAPOUR, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Wolf, President Trump obviously wants to try to end this 47-year conflict with Iran in several weeks, but, in my view, that's not going to happen. You still have the same regime, which wants the United States as an adversary. More narrow agreement on just the nuclear issue is possible, but there's no signs that Iran is prepared to change its conduct.

And on the Strait of Hormuz, what they found is that that's an incredible tool of leverage for them. They agreed to open it now in exchange for Israel ceasing its military operations in Lebanon. But in the future, if Israel resumes its military operations in Lebanon, they might well try to stop traffic in the strait again.

BLITZER: Well, what's going to happen if Hezbollah in Lebanon starts firing rockets and missiles towards Northern Israel, which they've been doing?

SADJAPOUR: There are so many saboteurs in this equation, not only Lebanese, Hezbollah, the Houthis and Yemen, Shiite militias in Iraq and individuals within the Iranian Revolutionary Guard who actually want to prolong the war for their own internal expediency.

BLITZER: Stand by. I want to bring in General Clark. General Clark, in announcing the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, the Iranian foreign minister said vessels must still transit through what they called a coordinated route laid out by Iranian authorities. Is it unusual at all that Iran would be determining this?

GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET.), U.S. ARMY: Well, it's absolutely unusual. It's unprecedented and it's illegal. And so this is an international waterway. They have no right to do this. But there still may be mines out there and those mines have to be cleared. Someone has to certify that the mines are cleared.

[10:20:01] But, Wolf, in addition to that, as Kareem was saying, this situation will never go back to what it was before because what's happened is Iran has exercised a weapon and that weapon is still there. It's still like an ax hanging over international commerce and diplomacy in the region, and they've seen how powerful it is.

And I think we also have to look at the role of China in this. When Pakistan's coming in and helping to, to broker this and convincing Iran, China is behind Pakistan. Saudis are working with Pakistan. It's a temporary fix. Yes, it should be open. It should be open for China because they're the biggest beneficiary of it and the Iranians know it and they can't keep it closed. But there's been a real demonstration of strategic power here by the Iranian regime.

So, I just second what Kareem has to say, lots of saboteurs out there, lots of potential pitfalls in the future.

BLITZER: Certainly. Kareem, the U.S. Navy currently has a blockade that went into effect a few days ago on Iran in the strait that President Trump says will remain in full force, but only as it pertains to Iran, his words, only as it pertains to Iran. How does this impact the country?

SADJAPOUR: So, Iran is a country under dire economic straits. Even before this war, it was probably the most sanctioned country in the world. Now, it's endured probably tens, if not over a hundred billion dollars in damages as a result of this war. And that's one of the reasons why there are folks within the government who don't mind prolonging the war because once there is a longer term ceasefire, they will face an incredibly aggrieved population.

BLITZER: No doubt about that.

General Clark we're about a day into that ten-day proposed truce between Israel and Lebanon. Hours after it started though, the Lebanese army accused Israel of violating the ceasefire. The conflict in Lebanon has been a key sticking point in all the negotiations between the U.S. and Iran. Is Israel playing into Iran's hands here if in fact it's violating the ceasefire?

CLARK: Of course it is. And but Iran has never had Hezbollah come back and acknowledge the ceasefire. So, Hezbollah is a third party left out. At any time, Hezbollah could watch a couple of rockets and you can't take away Israel's right to defend itself. Israel has that right and I know that there are many in Israel today who are perplexed by this, or we signed or we're going to get an agreement with Lebanon, and what about Hezbollah? We were going to get rid of Hezbollah. They're still there. What restrictions will emerge on Iran's support of Hezbollah as we try to wrap this up with a complex, complete diplomatic agreement? And if there are no such restrictions of, we're still in the danger zone, Wolf.

BLITZER: No doubt about that. The danger zone continues.

General Clark, thank you very much. Kareem Sadjapour, thank you to you as well. Pamela? BROWN: All right, Wolf.

Coming up here in The Situation Room, while oil prices, as you were just discussing, are dropping right now, officials are warning that Gulf energy production will take about two years to return to pre-war levels. We're going to have the details on that up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:25:00]

BROWN: Happening now, oil prices are tanking this morning after Iran says the Strait of Hormuz is, quote, completely open temporarily for the remaining period of the ceasefire deal.

Now, despite that, officials are warning that Gulf energy production could take about two years to return to pre-war levels. The head of the International Energy Agency says the speed of the recovery will vary from country to country.

And all of this comes as a group of more than 300 aviation companies is urging governments to prepare for jet fuel rationing.

CNN Business Senior Reporter David Goldman has more.

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR REPORTER: Yes, so obviously if we're talking about rationing jet fuel, that's not a good situation and it shows just how serious it is for airlines.

Now, we are not going to run out of jet fuel. Let's be clear about that. Airlines will compensate, and the way that they're going to do that is by all the things that we hate about traveling. They're going to cut flights, they're going to cancel flights, they're going to cut routes, and they're going to raise prices. So, that means that there could be some pain particularly coming in the summer.

Now, the reason why this is happening in Europe first is because about 20 percent of the world's jet fuel goes through the Strait of Hormuz, but of that 69 percent goes to Europe. But remember, jet fuel trade trades on a global market, and so this will come for the United States as well.

And, in fact, we're already seeing evidence of that. United Airlines has cut 5 percent of its summer flights, and Delta said that about $2 billion of added costs have already hit their balance sheet just from this war alone. And that will need to be put onto consumers through, you know, higher fares and cut flights that we've been talking about.

So, one of the things that might need to happen is that some airlines might go into some serious financial difficulty and might even fail, including Spirit Airlines is one that we're watching. They've already said that they might go out of business.

[10:30:00]

And United said that it's maybe looking into merging with American Airlines. That's a rumor that's been floating around.