WASHINGTON — Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz was flowing Friday — under Iran’s monitoring — after a radio message to vessels in the region suggested the waterway had been closed over tensions with Israel and the US.

“The armed forces of Iran, in accordance with the memorandum of understanding [MOU] to end the war dated June 18, 2026, have taken the necessary measures to ensure the safe passage of commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, and shipping in this route is currently underway,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said Friday, according to Iran’s Fars News Agency.

Earlier, an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) statement read over maritime radio channels warned vessels from entering the strait because the US was in violation of the MOU between Washington and Tehran, which President Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed Wednesday.

“Since Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon, the complete lifting of the naval blockade, and the withdrawal of American terrorist forces from the Persian Gulf and the region are among the main conditions of the agreement between Iran and the United States, the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until these conditions are met,” it said. “All ships are requested, for the sake of their security and safety, not to approach the Strait of Hormuz. Any vessel that defies this directive will be targeted.”

The MOU declared Iran would open the strait — which has been closed since the war began on Feb. 28 — in exchange for the US lifting its blockade on Iranian ports.

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US Central Command said Thursday it had formally lifted its two-month blockade on Iranian ports.

The differing messages mirrored internal divisions in Iran over whether it should keep fighting the US or seek a truce — strife American and regional sources have cited as a significant reason why it took roughly two months of negotiations for finalize the MOU.

The Iranian regime ultimately approved the MOU, while some members of the IRGC — which internally opposed ending the war — argued that Tehran should wait to sign the agreement until Israel withdraws all troops from Lebanon.

Richard Goldberg, Foundation for Defense of Democracies senior adviser and a fromer White House National Security Council official, told The Post the ordeal was evidence the US must remain steadfast during the next 60 days of negotiations, as Tehran will continue to push the envelope on what it can swindle out of the US and the world.

“It’s going to be important at every step of the way to ensure we respond forcefully to every attempt by the Iranians to pull back, jerk us around, or shake us down for more,” he said.

“There is a fine line between strategic patience and prudent strategy versus getting sucked into an extortion racket. And we should proceed to ensure we are pursuing the former and not the latter.”

The Iranian Foreign Ministry announcement came after a US official said Israel and Hezbollah had reached a new cease-fire agreement.

The new cease-fire — negotiated by the US and Qatar — came just a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that the Jewish state’s forces would continue hunting terrorists in Lebanon despite the US-Iran MOU.

“We will restore security and prosperity to northern towns,” Netanyahu said. “That requires maintaining the security zone in southern Lebanon.”

The Israel Defense Forces had also published a new map showing an expanded zone of occupation, deploying troops more than 6 miles across the Lebanese border, including north of the Litani River.

The MOU signed Wednesday promised the US and Iran, “along with their allies,” would respect Lebanon’s territory and sovereignty and end all hostilities there.

Simcha Brodsky, president of the open source intelligence organization OSINT613, said the IRGC radio broadcast represented Iran taking advantage of the way the MOU was designed and the time it takes for the US to lift a blockade.

“What we’re seeing is a direct result of the wording in the US-Iran MoU. The deal lifts the US blockade in phases (‘fully within 30 days’), so the US is mid-process by design,” he said. “Iran is using that gap: It says the strait stays closed until the blockade is ‘completely lifted,’ so it can claim the lift isn’t done and call this a re-closure.”

“Iran has now bolted the Israel-Lebanon fighting onto that pretext to hard-stop the whole deal, roping Israel into an agreement it never approved or negotiated.”

Beni Sabti, an Iran expert at Tel Aviv University’s Institute for National Security Studies, said the implications of Iran’s control of the strait will plague the world until the regime is wiped out.

“They have found the strait can be held hostage, that they can do whatever they want to do, whenever they want to do it,” he said. “In the future, they can open it and close it every day if they want. They can find any excuse — you know, tomorrow there could be some problem with some immigrants in Europe, so they can also threaten all the world with that.”

“I think it will go on for a long time, as long as they have this hubris that they think they won the war. Unless the US decides to put an end to this threat [and] the regime once and for all.”

Sabti added that it doesn’t matter who wins the internal power struggle in Tehran — the threat of holding the strait hostage will remain.

“There is no in different differences between IRGC and government. They are the same, just one smiles more and one is more violent or threatens more.

Goldberg said the US has offered Iran plenty of incentive to reopen the strait, but Washington must ensure Tehran isn’t taking advantage.

“It just is a question of, as you provide them some relief, how much relief are they getting? The more relief they get, the more demands you will see from them,” he said. “The fewer concessions you see, the less relief they get — you will still maintain leverage.”

“That’s the game here: they want to get more relief, they’re going to keep playing games to try to get as much relief as possible,” he added. “We’re going to have to hold the line and be firm and stare them down to limit the relief as much as possible.”

The Iranian Foreign Ministry’s news of the strait’s opening came hours after the first round of US-Iran nuclear talks achieved through the MOU and scheduled for Friday were called off.

The US has not given a reason for the postponement.

A regional source claimed Wednesday some hardliners in the Iranian regime were arguing against attending a since-canceled MOU signing ceremony set for Friday until Israel removed its troops from southern Lebanon.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) — which Tehran recently formed so it could control the strait and, critics say, charge fees — released a set of new “terms and conditions” for ships passing through the vital waterway.

While the MOU requires Iran to hold off demanding payment from shipping firms for the next 60 days, the document explicitly states Tehran “reserves the right to introduce” new fees in the future.

The document also requires all ships to get a permit from the PGSA to pass through the strait, which was not required before the war began Feb. 28, as the strait is considered international waters.

The White House and State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.