NEW DELHI, June 20: The Iran’s military on Saturday said it had once again closed the Strait of Hormuz, citing “violations” of the first clause of a recently signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the US, as Israeli strikes on Lebanon continued.
“In light of the United States’ clear breach of its commitments on ending the war, and in response to the continuous and relentless violations of the ceasefire by the Zionist regime in southern Lebanon…, as well as considering the failure of the occupying Zionist forces to withdraw from southern Lebanon, it is announced that the Strait of Hormuz will be closed to vessel traffic,” Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said in a statement.
The Iranian military command said the closure of the strait “is the first step of response to the enemy’s breach of trust.” If Israel continued the attacks on Lebanon, “further measures will be planned and taken,” it added. The MoU, reached between the US and Iran on June 15, states that a ceasefire should come into force on all fronts, “including Lebanon.”
“The US and Iran and their allies in the current war declare the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon, and undertake from now on not to initiate any war or any military operation against each other, and to refrain from the threat or use of force against each other, and ensuring the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Lebanon,” reads the first clause of the Memorandum, signed by US President Donald Trump and his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian.
But Israel, which occupies parts of southern Lebanon, has stated that it would not withdraw forces from the territories it has seized. Over the past two days Israel has carried out multiple air strikes in Lebanon, killing dozens of people. It claims it is responding to attacks from Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Shia militia which is resisting the Israeli occupation.
After the MoU was signed, Iran had eased restrictions on the strait and Mr Trump had said the waterway, through which one-fifth of the world’s seaborne crude oil passed before the war, was fully open. The US has also lifted its maritime blockade on Iranian ports as it promised in the MoU.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) also announced that the strait is closed and a warning to all ships to back away. “Do not approach the Strait of Hormuz; otherwise, your security will be jeopardized”, the Guards Navy said in a statement.
The announcement came after Pakistan, which mediated the ceasefire between the US and Iran, said “technical talks” between the two sides were set to restart in Geneva on Sunday. Talks were expected to resume on Friday but Iran delayed it, citing the Israeli bombing of Lebanon.
US Vice-President JD Vance, however, said there was no evidence that the strait is closed again. “We are not seeing any evidence the Iranians are still closing down the Strait of Hormuz,” Mr Vance said. “We actually got 16 million barrels of oil out of the strait yesterday (Friday). So you are seeing those ships move,” he said.
Lebanese official media had earlier claimed that fresh Israeli strikes on the country’s south on Saturday killed five people, despite a new ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group announced a day earlier. The state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported Israeli airstrikes on more than a dozen south Lebanon locations after midnight and into Saturday morning, many in and around the Nabatieh area. The US officials had claimed on Friday that Israel and Hezbollah had agreed on a ceasefire.
(Rohit Kumar)
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