Iran wants to close the Strait of Hormuz again to all ships. Meanwhile, the US-Iran talks are scheduled to take place in Switzerland on Sunday.
The country’s central military command justified the move by violating the ceasefire in southern Lebanon, which was agreed in the framework agreement between the USA and Iran.
According to the statement, the Israeli military presence in southern Lebanon is also a reason for the blockade. This is not explicitly mentioned in the framework agreement. However, the text speaks of ensuring Lebanon’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. The Iranian military command threatened further action if Israel’s army continued fighting in Lebanon.
US military: Enforce freedom of navigation
The US military said a little later that shipping traffic increased on Saturday “while US forces continued to operate in the area to protect freedom of navigation.” 55 ships carrying, among other things, 17 million barrels of oil passed through the strait. According to Centcom, the military remains on site to ensure that all of the framework agreement’s agreements are “honored, followed and fully implemented.”
The Hezbollah militia is Iran’s most important ally in the region. According to a US government official, a ceasefire has actually been in effect in Lebanon since Friday 4:00 p.m. local time (3:00 p.m./CEST). Hezbollah and the Israeli army blame each other for violations.
Iran demands that the US put pressure on the Israeli leadership. However, the Israeli army said it would continue to act against any threat to the State of Israel and its soldiers. Hezbollah said it would continue to adhere to the ceasefire but would oppose any attempt to conquer additional land.
Important trade route
For Tehran, including Lebanon in the agreement with the USA is part of a new security doctrine, as Middle East expert and professor of Islamic studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Simon Wolfgang Fuchs, told dpa. The strategy is to link the fates of Tehran and Beirut. Iran has also threatened not to sign a final agreement until Israel withdraws from southern Lebanon.
Iran largely blocked the Strait of Hormuz after the war began on February 28th. Around 20 percent of global energy trade is carried out through sea passage. Because the bottleneck is the only access for ships to the Persian Gulf and thus also to several Arab Gulf states, Iran can use the strait as leverage in conflicts. The closure exposed the vulnerability of global supply chains and had a massive impact on international energy markets.
Pakistan: US-Iran talks on Sunday in Switzerland
According to the mediating state Pakistan, talks between Iran and the USA are to be held in Switzerland on Sunday. These would be held at a technical level in Bürgenstock, according to a statement from the Pakistani Foreign Ministry in the afternoon.
Representatives of the United States, Iran and mediators Pakistan and Qatar would take part in the talks, it said. Islamabad will continue to support the process as a mediator to deepen the understandings reached in the framework agreement.
Shortly before, it was said from Iran that negotiators were now traveling to Switzerland to discuss the details of the framework agreement and to demand that the USA fulfill the obligations of the other side, as Iranian Foreign Office spokesman Ismail Baghai announced on the state broadcaster Irib.
Iran had adhered to the agreements, Baghai explained, while the US had already violated the first paragraph of the agreement. The promise to bring about a ceasefire on all fronts – including Lebanon – had not been kept.
Discussions planned for Friday did not take place
Although the USA had committed itself to getting Israel to agree to a ceasefire in Lebanon, this measure had not materialized. “If the other side refuses to fulfill its obligations, Iran will not do so either,” the spokesman said. In the afternoon, the central military command of the Islamic Republic declared that it would again close the Strait of Hormuz to the passage of all ships, citing non-compliance with the ceasefire in southern Lebanon.
US Vice President JD Vance had previously announced a trip to Switzerland without giving an exact date. “I expect to leave at some point in the coming days,” Vance said in an interview on Fox. Vance confirmed that talks were currently taking place in Switzerland – and in this context also that US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and US special envoy Steve Witkoff were in Switzerland. “From my impression from talking to Jared and Steve this morning, things are going well.”
A first round of talks about a possible nuclear agreement in Switzerland was actually planned for Friday. However, it did not take place due to renewed mutual attacks between the Israeli army and the pro-Iranian Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.
TEHRAN (dpa-AFX)