Iran said it was once again closing the vital shipping lane of the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday because of Israel’s attacks in Lebanon, calling them a violation of its agreement with the United States to end the war in the Middle East.
Israeli troops battled Hezbollah fighters as its warplanes carried out deadly strikes in southern Lebanon on Saturday, hours after the United States announced a renewed ceasefire in fighting there.
The ongoing hostilities had already strained the deal signed by US President Donald Trump and his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian this week to halt the wider regional war on all fronts, including in Lebanon – a key demand of Tehran.
Citing a US “breach of contract” and the “continuous and relentless violation of the cease-fire in southern Lebanon by the Zionist regime”, Iran’s central military command announced on Saturday “that the Strait of Hormuz will be closed to ship traffic”.
The strait, an important channel for oil and gas shipments, was blocked by Iran for much of the war, sending shockwaves through global energy markets.
Iran had agreed to reopen it under a preliminary agreement with the US, and shipping traffic had begun to return in recent days.
Follow-up talks on the US-Iran deal were scheduled in Switzerland on Friday but were postponed indefinitely after Israel launched a wave of deadly attacks in Lebanon after four of its soldiers were killed in the fighting.
On Friday afternoon, a US official announced a new ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah brokered by US and Qatari mediators, with Israel’s ambassador to Washington saying it would respect the ceasefire if Hezbollah did so.
But on Saturday, an Israeli military official said it was carrying out new attacks against the Iran-backed movement, which it accused of “launching more than 50 shells at Israeli forces in southern Lebanon” overnight.
Hezbollah said Israel had carried out “under the cover of a cease-fire… an infiltration attempt towards the Ali Taher hills”, a strategic feature overlooking the city of Nabatieh, adding that its fighters “were confronted with appropriate weapons”.
Lebanese state media reported Israeli airstrikes in about 20 locations, with the country’s civil defense agency saying 16 people were killed in the Nabatieh area, where an AFP photographer saw smoke rising over the town after the strikes.
Lebanon’s health ministry reported seven more people killed and 13 wounded in an attack in a village near the city of Sidon.
Another AFP reporter on the Israeli side of the border saw smoke rising behind the historic Beaufort Fort, a strategic position not far from Nabatieh that Israel captured last month.
“The Right to Confront”
Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said Saturday that his group “has every right to confront this enemy when he attacks us.”
An Israeli military official quoted by public broadcaster Khan similarly described his country’s approach to the ceasefire as “based on fire that returns fire”.
Israel’s US ambassador, Yechiel Leiter, said it was Hezbollah that broke the ceasefire, adding: “Israel is respecting the ceasefire while defending itself from terrorist attacks, as any self-respecting country would.”
Fadi Zayat, who had fled the southern Lebanese town of Tayr Debba, told AFP that “fear dominates everyone”.
“We returned to the village a few days ago, but our bags are ready to leave again,” said the 53-year-old. “We are waiting for a serious decision to end the war … so that we can go back to our lives.”
Hezbollah drew Lebanon into a wider Middle East conflict in early March when it fired missiles at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s supreme leader in US-Israeli strikes.
An earlier ceasefire meant to take effect in Lebanon in April was never observed.
In a phone call with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun stressed “the need to cease Israeli attacks on Lebanese territory”, his office said.
Rubio, according to the State Department, insisted on the importance of Lebanon continuing its efforts to disarm Hezbollah and “reestablish control over all Lebanese territory.”
Switzerland talks
Israel and Lebanon, which do not have formal diplomatic ties, have held multiple rounds of US-brokered direct talks in Washington, with another planned next week, according to Rubio.
Meanwhile, talks that were scheduled to take place between the US and Iran in Switzerland to work towards a lasting solution to the Middle East war were postponed on Friday, with no new date announced.
Vice President JD Vance was expected to represent the US side, but postponed his trip.
Instead, US envoy Steve Witkoff headed to Switzerland to get the talks back on track, US media reported, with Trump’s other emissary Jared Kushner also expected there.
In parallel, Pakistan’s interior minister, Mohsin Naqvi, arrived in Iran on Saturday for meetings with officials, Iranian media reported.
The talks in Switzerland were intended to kick off a two-month period of negotiations to discuss outstanding issues not covered by the original agreement, particularly Iran’s nuclear program.
Switzerland’s foreign ministry said on Saturday that envoys “from the various countries currently present are continuing their efforts to maintain dialogue”, declining to provide further details.
Swiss public broadcaster RTS said technical delegations from the United States and Iran, plus Pakistan and fellow mediator Qatar, were present at the discussions.
(aw)
