The Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces announced at noon on Saturday the re-closing of Strait of Hormuzdue to continued Israeli operations in Lebanon.
In the relevant announcement, it speaks of “a clear violation of the trust and commitments of the USA” regarding the first clause of the cooperation memorandum and the continuous violations of the ceasefire by Israel in southern Lebanon.
In the same statement, Iran’s Supreme Military Command said the closure of Hormuz was the “first step”, warning of further measures should Israel continue its attacks.
On the same wavelength, the representative of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs notes that Iran has kept its commitments and the US is obliged to “force Israel to stop attacks against Lebanon”.
The Iranian agency FARS, citing the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reports that the an Iranian delegation will go to Switzerland to monitor the development of the case and demand that the other side’s commitments be respected.
The representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs added that, if the other side refuses to keep its commitments, Iran will respond with the necessary measures.
CENTCOM denies
The US military denied Iran’s claims that it had closed them Straits of Hormuzstating that this critical sea passage remains open and that US forces are monitoring the situation to ensure that it remains open.
“Iran does not control the Straits of Hormuz”US Central Command (Centcom) spokesman Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins told Reuters. “Traffic continues to flow normally and US forces are monitoring the situation to ensure that remains the case.”
Attacks despite the truce
Since Saturday morning, the Israeli army has been shelling Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon, in response to attacks on Israeli soldiers deployed in that area of Lebanon, despite yesterday’s announcement of a cease-fire agreement.
In a statement, the Israeli military claims that Hezbollah fired more than 50 missiles at Israeli forces in southern Lebanon and that Chahal responded by striking targets of the pro-Iranian group.
According to Lebanon’s Civil Protection Agency, Israeli attacks have so far killed 16 people.
In Birgenstock the “preparatory” talks
Meanwhile, in Birgenstock, Switzerland, near Lucerne, “preparatory” talks began today between diplomats aimed at maintaining dialogue on the preliminary agreement between the US and Iran to end the war, Bern announced.
Diplomats from various countries are present and continuing efforts to maintain the dialogue, according to a statement from the Swiss foreign ministry, which clarified that no further details about the participants and the content of the talks would be disclosed for reasons of confidentiality.
High-level talks originally planned for yesterday in Switzerland have been postponed and the situation plunged back into uncertainty, while Israel today continued deadly attacks in southern Lebanon.
Swiss broadcaster RTS reported that delegations from the US and Iran, as well as the mediating countries Qatar and Pakistan, are taking part in the talks.
US media reported that US mediator Steven Witkoff and Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner they are on their way to Switzerland.
US Vice President Jay D. Vance announced on Fox News that he will travel to Switzerland within a day or two.
A spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry announced that the Iranian delegation will leave Tehran for Switzerland, warning that if the other side refuses to implement its commitments, Iran will respond by taking the necessary measures.
