Iran has rejected US President Donald Trump’s claim that Tehran asked Washington to hold off on fresh strikes, and signalled that the Strait of Hormuz will stay closed — undercutting the central premise of the deal Trump announced at the weekend.

Iran’s Mehr news agency, citing military officials, said on Sunday (2) that the allegation “was nothing but a new lie” and that the Iranian armed forces were “on high alert and ready for any eventuality.”

Trump had said on Saturday that the United States was “ready to go against the Islamic Republic” but that Tehran and other Middle Eastern countries had asked him to hold off. He called off the planned strikes on condition a deal was reached quickly, writing on Truth Social that it would include the “Immediate, Complete and Total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT” and an end to Iran’s nuclear threat.

Iranian state media gave no indication that Tehran had made any such request, or that its position on the waterway had shifted, CNN reported.

No movement on the strait

Iran’s Fars news agency, citing a source close to Iranian negotiators, said “as long as the United States maintains its hostile actions, the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed.”

Fars, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, reported that numerous ships were still stuck in the strait’s northern corridor in Iranian waters at midday on Sunday, and could pass only if Iran’s armed forces permitted it. Iranian authorities have said the same applies to the southern corridor running through Oman’s territorial waters.

Iran has blockaded Hormuz since the war began in February, requiring vessels to obtain permission and pay transit fees before using it.

Iran’s acting Defence Minister, Majid Ebn-e-Reza, said Trump’s pullback was made “within the context of psychological operations and a war of calculations,” adding that Iran’s forces treat every threat as real and so “we will neither be taken by surprise nor will we be passive.”

Iranian outlets cast the reversal as a US retreat. “Trump the fool has run out of steam,” Fars posted. The semi-official Tasnim agency pointed to Western reporting on shortages of US air-defence missiles as “one of the main factors” behind the decision to halt the attack.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke to Trump by phone before the announcement, Saudi state media said, stressing the need to prioritise dialogue and de-escalation.

What it means for Sri Lanka

For Sri Lanka, the strait matters more than the strikes. The closure has been the single largest driver of import costs since February, feeding into fuel prices, electricity generation costs and food inflation.

Trump’s announcement had raised the prospect of a reopening. Tehran’s response removes it for now. The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, which announced no price revision for August and is already absorbing a reported loss of Rs 63-70 a litre on diesel, faces continued volatility rather than the relief a reopening would have delivered.

The Asian Development Bank approved a USD 200 million loan on Friday explicitly to help Sri Lanka absorb pressure from the conflict, and the World Food Programme estimates the war has pushed 1.3 million Sri Lankans into food insecurity.

No deal has been signed. A similar arrangement announced in April did not hold.