US-Iran ceasefire can’t paper over fires in the Strait of Hormuz

While the United States and Iran exchange peace proposals in Islamabad, the Middle East remains trapped in a cycle of escalation. Ships burn in the Strait of Hormuz, Lebanon absorbs strikes by Israel and the nuclear gap remains unbridgeable. Calling this moment a ceasefire might be in line with diplomatic language, but on the ground it has the familiar look of war, just repackaged.While US President Donald Trump might have negotiated some sort of ceasefire agreement, the American naval blockade on Iranian ports persists, a move that Iran considers an act of war. The Iranians have made clear they will not open the Strait of Hormuz until the blockade is lifted.On April 21, Trump extended the ceasefire through Truth Social, attributing the lack of a common plan to the divided leadership in Iran. Within 24 hours, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps seized two commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, the MSC Francesca and the Epaminondas. In Tehran’s reading, this was not a ceasefire violation. It was enforcement of one.