Iran announces it is closing Hormuz again due to Israel's attacks on Lebanon

BarcelonaIran's most important military command announced this Saturday a new closure of the Strait of Hormuz to maritime traffic, alleging violations of the ceasefire agreement between the US and Iran. In a statement, this military command assures that the decision is made following the "clear violation by the United States of the first clause" of the memorandum of understanding and "in response to the continuous and persistent violations of the ceasefire by the Zionist regime in southern Lebanon". Only this Saturday, 13 people have died in Israeli attacks in the neighboring country.

The new closure of Hormuz is a "first step" in Tehran's response to what it has described as breaches of commitments. If "aggression" continues, Iran assures that it has "planned" new measures to "force the enemy to comply with its obligations". The military command also denounced the "ruthless massacre" and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people in Lebanon.

The agreement signed this week by the US president, Donald Trump, and the president of Iran, Masoud Pezeshkian, establishes an "immediate and permanent cessation of military operations on all fronts" for the US, Iran and "their allies in the current war", in a clear reference to Israel. In fact, the first point of the agreement emphasizes that the Lebanese front is also included in the agreed cessation of hostilities.

Israel maintains attacks in Lebanon

Despite this, Israel has continued bombing Lebanese territory, and some ministers from the harder wing of Benjamin Netanyahu's government were calling yesterday, Friday, for a stronger response against Hezbollah after the death of four Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon. "All of Lebanon must burn," exclaimed the Israeli National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, 48 people died in attacks in Lebanon yesterday alone.

In recent weeks, Iran has made a ceasefire in Lebanon a condition for establishing negotiations with the United States. Washington, aware that Netanyahu's attacks against Hezbollah, an ally of Tehran, jeopardize talks with Iran, announced yesterday, Friday, a truce between the Israeli army and the Shiite group, negotiated with the mediation of Qatar and Iran itself. But the announcement quickly came to nothing. Israel continued bombing Lebanon. Initially, Hezbollah claimed to have begun to respect the cessation of hostilities, but this morning, seeing that the Israeli attacks have continued, the militia has also attacked Israeli targets in Lebanon.

Yesterday, Friday, the attacks in Lebanon derailed the signing ceremony of the memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran, which was to be held in Switzerland. Today, after the announcement of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the Foreign Minister of Pakistan, acting as mediator, has assured that the technical follow-up talks of the agreement between Washington and Tehran will be held this Sunday and will take place, as planned, in the Swiss town of Bürgenstock with the participation of a US delegation and an Iranian delegation, and the mediation of Pakistan and Qatar.