By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Iran on Saturday announced that it would again close the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping lane, over Israel’s attacks in Lebanon, saying they represent a violation of its deal with the United States to end the Middle East war.
Israeli troops battled Hezbollah fighters while its warplanes conducted deadly strikes in Lebanon’s south on Saturday, hours after the United States announced a renewed ceasefire in the 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 Lebanon — a key demand presented by Tehran.
Citing a US “breach of contract” and “the Zionist regime’s continuous and relentless violation of the ceasefire in southern Lebanon”, Iran’s central military command announced Saturday “that the Strait of Hormuz will be closed to vessel traffic”.
The strait, an important waterway for oil and gas shipments, was blockaded by Iran for much of the war, sending shockwaves through global energy markets.
Iran had agreed to reopen it under the preliminary agreement with the US, and shipping traffic was starting to pick back up in recent days.
Follow-up talks on the US-Iran deal had been planned in Switzerland on Friday but were indefinitely postponed as Israel launched a wave of deadly strikes in Lebanon after four of its soldiers were killed in combat.
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 truce if Hezbollah did.
But on Saturday an Israeli military official said it was conducting fresh attacks against the Iran-backed movement, which it accused of having “launched more than 50 projectiles at Israeli forces in southern Lebanon” overnight.
Hezbollah said Israel had carried out “under the cover of the ceasefire… an infiltration attempt towards the Ali Taher Hills”, a strategic feature overlooking the city of Nabatieh, adding its fighters “confronted them with appropriate weapons”.
Lebanese state media reported Israeli air raids on around 20 locations, with the country’s civil defence agency saying 16 people were killed in the Nabatieh area, where an AFP photographer said he saw saw smoke rising over the city after strikes.
Lebanon’s health ministry reported seven more people killed and 13 wounded in a strike on a village near the city of Sidon.
