Tehran: Iran said it was once again closing the vital Strait of Hormuz on Saturday over Israeli attacks in Lebanon, as Iranian and US negotiators prepared to converge on Switzerland for talks on implementing a deal to end the Middle East war.
The US military denied Iran’s claims, saying the critical waterway remained open and that US forces were monitoring the situation to ensure that it continued.
“Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz,” US Central Command spokesperson Navy Captain Tim Hawkins said. “Traffic continues to flow, and US forces are monitoring the situation to ensure this remains the case.”
Follow-up negotiations had been planned in Switzerland on Friday, but were postponed at the last minute as Israel carried out a wave of deadly strikes in Lebanon after four of its soldiers were killed in combat.
The US announced a renewed ceasefire there on Friday afternoon — a stipulation under the deal it signed with Iran — but Israeli troops clashed with Hezbollah fighters and conducted strikes again on Saturday, with both sides accusing the other of violating the new truce.
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 on Saturday “that the Strait of Hormuz will be closed to vessel traffic”.
The Revolutionary Guards’ naval force warned vessels not to approach the waterway, “otherwise, their security will be jeopardised”.
The strait, an important conduit for oil and gas shipments, was blockaded by Iran for much of the war, sending shockwaves through global energy markets.
Tehran had agreed to reopen it under the preliminary accord signed this week by President Donald Trump and his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian, and shipping traffic had started to pick back up in recent days.
An Iranian delegation left for Switzerland on Saturday afternoon, state media reported, with foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei saying they would “demand implementation of the other party’s commitments” under the deal as soon as possible.
“Otherwise, the entire understanding will be in trouble,” he said, according to official news agency IRNA.
After postponing a planned trip the day before, US Vice President JD Vance told Fox News on Saturday that he too expected to travel to Switzerland for talks in “the next couple of days, but you know it’s always a delicate coordination dance”.
US negotiators Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff were already in Switzerland handling “some of the technical elements” and had reported that “things are going well”, Vance added, just moments before the Iranian announcement about the Hormuz strait.
Mediator Pakistan — whose interior minister was reportedly in Iran on Saturday for meetings with officials — said “technical-level talks” were scheduled for Sunday.
The Swiss talks are meant to kick off a two-month period of negotiations to discuss outstanding issues not covered by the initial deal, notably Iran’s nuclear programme.
Switzerland’s foreign ministry confirmed unnamed foreign envoys there were “continuing their efforts to maintain the dialogue”, but declined to offer further details.
Following Israel’s heavy strikes in Lebanon on Friday — which killed 83 people, according to health authorities — a US official announced a new ceasefire brokered by US and Qatari mediators.
But on Saturday, an Israeli military official said it was conducting fresh attacks against Iran-backed Hezbollah, accusing it of having “launched more than 50 projectiles at Israeli forces in southern Lebanon” overnight.
Hezbollah in turn accused Israel of having 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 on Saturday, with the country’s civil defence agency saying 16 people were killed in the Nabatieh area. — Reuters
