WORLD NEWS: Iran declares the Strait of Hormuz closed due to Israeli bombings in Lebanon | International
World News Update:
International observers are closely monitoring the latest developments as new information continues to emerge.
The strategic Strait of Hormuz has once again gained prominence this Saturday, just days after Iran and the United States signed a 14-point preliminary agreement to reopen it and end the clashes. Tehran has announced that it is closing it again, this time due to the “flagrant non-compliance” of the pact which means that Israel continues bombing Lebanon, causing another 25 deaths this Saturday. Its joint military command calls it a “first step” because of Israel’s “refusal” “to withdraw from the territories of southern Lebanon,” despite the fact that the provisional pact with Washington determines the end of fighting in the country and respect for its “territorial integrity.” However, the US Vice President, JD Vance, and the US Central Command, have insisted that the passage remains open. Despite the tension between the parties, the Foreign Ministry in Tehran has announced that it will send a delegation to Switzerland in the next few hours – led by its main negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, and with the Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi – to ensure compliance with the 14 points already agreed upon. “The first clause of the memorandum of understanding [poner fin a la guerra en todos los frentes, incluido el Líbano] It is the most important pillar of mutual commitments. While Iran has remained committed to its obligations, the other side was obliged to put pressure on the Zionist regime. [Israel] to stop the fire in Lebanon. By not doing so, he has explicitly violated the agreement,” insisted the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran, Esmaeil Baghaei. Israeli bombing in southern Lebanon, seen from northern Israel, this Friday. Leo Correa (AP Photo/Leo Correa) Two prominent envoys of Donald Trump are already in Switzerland: Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, according to Vance, who intends to join them in the coming days to try to advance the negotiation. “Things are going well,” the US vice president remarked in an interview on the conservative Fox News network, where he declared that he is convinced that the ceasefire between Washington and Tehran will remain in force. “I hope to travel. [a Suiza] at some point, but you already know that it is always a delicate task of coordination and that diplomatic protocols must be respected,” said Vance, who postponed his trip to Switzerland on Thursday night. In this context, the mediators are striving to begin the 60 days of negotiations between Washington and Tehran to agree on a text that definitively ends the war. They were scheduled to begin on Friday, but Iran refused, to pressure the United States to force Israel to stop in Lebanon. In theory, it has also been in force since on Friday a new ceasefire with Hezbollah that neither party has respected.NegotiationThe next phase of the negotiations is still scheduled to be held in Switzerland, under the supervision of the authorities of Pakistan and Qatar, who have been mediating for weeks to end the conflict in the Middle East “They want to make sure that this is done correctly, so I am trying to be respectful,” he said. The vice president explained that Witkoff and Kushner have been there “for a few hours, dealing with some of the technical aspects of this negotiation.” “One of the president’s priorities was to open the strait. And that has already been achieved,” Vance said, before highlighting that on Thursday millions of barrels that had been blocked for weeks already left through Hormuz. “This indicates that the strait is really open,” he concluded. “We are not seeing any evidence that the Iranians continue to close the Strait of Hormuz.” The spokesman for the US Central Command, Tim Hawkins, later declared to the Reuters agency that “Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz.” “Traffic continues to flow, and US forces are monitoring the situation to ensure that it remains that way.”A person injured in the Israeli bombing in Barish arrives at the Jabal Amel Hospital in Tire, this Saturday.Zohra Bensemra (REUTERS)Meanwhile, as in the rest of the truces involving Israel, the new one in Lebanon is more of a title than a reality. So far this Saturday, the Israeli army has killed at least 25 people there in bombings, while at the same time stating that it is “committed” to the truce. This Saturday afternoon, Israeli television channel 12 reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Defense Minister, Israel Katz, have ordered the army to stop the bombings, without withdrawing from their positions in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah, for its part, has continued to launch projectiles at the troops (50, according to Israel) and claims its “right” to resist the occupation of the south of the country, an occupation that, according to the pact signed this week by the United States. and Iran, should end, but insists on maintaining it “indefinitely,” as Katz has said. Since early morning, Israeli warplanes and drones have attacked multiple targets in the south and in the Bekaa Valley, according to the Lebanese state news agency of the Civil Defense, which has been a regular target in recent days. Initial reports speak of several civilian deaths. One of the bombings killed nine people, mostly women and children, in Qanarit, according to the newspaper L’Orient Le Jour. Another hit a three-story residential building in Barish, near the historic coastal city of Tyre, killing a couple and their two children, according to a local official. Two Lebanese soldiers have also died, according to their army, which remains on the sidelines of the conflict and has retreated before the advance of Israeli forces. Their respective governments are now negotiating in the United States that Lebanese troops progressively take control of “pilot areas” that Israel considers free of the presence of Hezbollah. This militia has stressed this Saturday its “right” to “confront the enemy when it attacks, since it is the aggressor and the occupier.” What worries us is that the enemy respects it fully and completely and does not try to attack our country, or our villages, or try to occupy any new position,” said one of its deputies, Hassan Fadlala, in a statement. Freedom of movement A senior Hezbollah official has also indicated to the Reuters agency that it will not allow Israeli forces to maintain freedom of movement, nor – motivated by the new status of moral victor of its supporter Iran – return to the situation prior to last 2 Until that day, the Lebanese group endured daily Israeli attacks against its militiamen: without responding, for more than a year and despite another ceasefire in theory. The bombings killed hundreds of its members, in addition to 130 civilians. The Shiite militia party was then decimated and demoralized, after Israel killed its historical leader, Hasan Nasrallah. war, on the side of Tehran, with an attack on Israel. Netanyahu reacted by ordering an invasion and the destruction of entire border villages. The Israeli bombings have caused almost 4,000 deaths in the country since then. A poster in Islamabad celebrates the provisional agreement between Iran and the United States, last Tuesday. Akhtar Soomro (REUTERS) Now, Lebanon is the key piece of the future of the agreement that Tehran and Washington signed this week and the reason for a first postponement of the negotiations. in Switzerland. In the last few hours, efforts have been made to prevent the dialogue from being born dead. In addition to the meeting that is taking place in Switzerland, Mohsin Naqvi, the Minister of the Interior of the main mediating country, Pakistan, is in Tehran to talk with the leader of the Iranian negotiating team, Foreign Minister Araghchí, according to the Iranian news agency Tasnim. As it has not negotiated or signed it, Israel considers itself outside the pact and insists that it will continue to occupy the south (“for as long as it takes). necessary”, as Netanyahu stressed this Friday) and will maintain “freedom of action”, that is, the ability to continue bombing. But in the agreement it appears (as an ally of the former) as obliged – like Hezbollah – to stop the fighting and respect the “sovereignty” of Lebanon. The day before, Israel already launched one of the most intense bombings in weeks, killing 47 Lebanese and wounding 97, until the announcement (not public, but through sources anonymous) of the truce. Hezbollah, for its part, caused the highest number of military casualties in months (four), by launching a projectile against the tank in which they were traveling in the occupied zone of Lebanon.
Global Impact:
Analysts believe this development may influence future diplomatic, political, or economic discussions internationally.
International media coverage is expected to intensify as more updates become available from official sources.
More details may emerge as official sources continue releasing new information.
Source: This article was originally published by Internacional en EL PAÍS and adapted for our international English-speaking audience.
Read the original article here.