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-- and they can’t blackmail us,” Trump said at a White House event.

Trump said there would be “some information” about Iran later in the day, adding: “We’re taking a tough stand.”

Iran’s top national security body yesterday also vowed no “compromise, retreat” in US talks.

The toing and froing over the strait casts doubt on Trump’s optimism the day before, that a peace deal to end the US-Israeli war with Iran was “very close”.

On Friday, Tehran had declared the strait, which usually carries a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas, open after a ceasefire was agreed in Lebanon to halt Israel’s war with Hezbollah.

This prompted elation in global markets and sent oil prices plunging, with Trump insisting that a US naval blockade of Iranian ports would continue until a deal was concluded. Tehran said the US has no right to block the waterway and threatened to shut the strait once more.

A ceasefire between Tehran and Washington is due to expire on Wednesday.

“Maybe I won’t extend it, but the blockade is going to remain,” Trump told reporters on Friday aboard Air Force One when asked if the ceasefire would be extended.

Asked about a potential deal, Trump said, “I think it’s going to happen.”

There was no immediate sign of direct US-Iran talks taking place over the weekend to end the war that the US and Israel launched on February 28.

Then, late yesterday morning, Iran’s central military command said that, in response to the US blockade, “control of the Strait of Hormuz has returned to its previous status” and “is under strict management and control of the armed forces”.

Shipping sources said at least two vessels reported coming under fire while trying to transit the waterway. In Mumbai, an Indian government source said India summoned Iran’s ambassador after an Indian-flagged vessel carrying crude oil was attacked while trying to cross the Strait.

Tehran’s renewed tough messaging injected fresh uncertainty around the Iran conflict, raising the risk that oil and gas shipments through the strait could remain disrupted.

Maritime security and shipping sources said some merchant vessels received radio messages from Iran’s navy saying no ships were allowed through the waterway, reversing signs earlier yesterday that traffic might resume.

By 1030 GMT, no fewer than eight oil and gas tankers had crossed the strait, but at least as many ships appeared to have turned back.

Meanwhile, CNN reported that Iran will prioritise vessels that pay to cross the Strait of Hormuz.

“Given the limitation on the number of vessels that will be allowed to pass, Iran has decided to give priority to those vessels that respond more quickly to the new Strait of Hormuz protocols and pay the costs of security and safety services,” the official said.

According to the official, vessels that do not pay the fees will have their passage “postponed.”

Speaking at a diplomatic forum in Turkey, Iranian deputy foreign minister Saeed Khatibzadeh said the “Americans cannot impose their will over Iran” through a siege.

Meanwhile, in a written message, Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, who had not been seen since taking power, said Iran’s navy “stands ready” to defeat the United States.

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council yesterday said that the country was reviewing “new proposals” received from the US.

“In recent days, with the presence of the commander of the Pakistani army in Tehran as an intermediary and mediator in the negotiations, new proposals have been put forward by the Americans, which the Islamic Republic of Iran is currently reviewing and has not yet responded to,” it said in a statement.

It went on to say that Iran’s negotiating delegation “will not make even the slightest compromise, retreat or leniency, and will defend with all its strength the interests of the Iranian nation”.

Nevertheless, Trump appeared convinced that a deal could be finished shortly.

He declared Friday “GREAT AND BRILLIANT,” and made a series of social media posts praising the progress in the talks.

Pakistan’s powerful military chief and prime minister concluded separate visits aimed at ending the Iran war, with Field Marshal Asim Munir leaving Tehran and premier Shehbaz Sharif headed home from Turkey.

Munir met Iran’s top leadership and peace negotiators during a three-day visit to the Iranian capital, a Pakistani military statement said.

Egypt, which has also been involved in diplomatic efforts, also appeared upbeat yesterday, with Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty saying Cairo and Islamabad hoped to secure a final agreement “in the coming days”.

He was speaking at the same event in Antalya as Khatibzadeh, who insisted no date had been set for the next round of direct talks.

The Speaker also criticised Trump for “tweeting a lot.”

“The American side tweets a lot, talks a lot. Sometimes confusing, sometimes, you know, contradictory,” he told journalists.

Islamabad has emerged as the lead mediator during the conflict, hosting a marathon first round of talks last weekend.

A second round is expected in the Pakistani capital this coming week, but it was not clear what impact Iran’s latest move would have on that possibility.

In a sign that the two-week ceasefire remained stable, Iran’s civil aviation agency declared its airspace was open again, with international flights able to transit Iran via the east of the country.

Nevertheless, differences remained on two major sticking points in the peace talks -- Iran’s stockpile of near-weapons-grade enriched uranium and the future of the Strait of Hormuz.

Speaking by phone with AFP on Friday, Trump said “we’re very close to having a deal,” adding that there were “no sticking points at all” left with Tehran.

Later the same day, at an event in Arizona, the president declared that Iran had agreed to hand over its 440 or so kilogrammes of uranium enriched to 60 percent -- close to that needed for a bomb.

“We’re going to get it by going in with Iran, with lots of excavators,” he said.

But hours before, Iran’s foreign ministry had said its stockpile, thought to be buried deep under rubble by US bombing in last June’s 12-day war, was not going anywhere.