Iran Recloses Strait of Hormuz Amidst Lebanon Strikes, Traffic Continues Unhindered

The Iranian military said it had reclosed the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday after continued Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon, according to the Fars state news agency.

The military said the decision had been made "in view of the flagrant bad faith and breach of covenant by America regarding the failure to implement the first clause of the end-of-war agreement, and in reaction to the relentless and continuous violation of the ceasefire by the Zionist regime in southern Lebanon".

However, as data published by monitoring website OSINTdefender shows, traffic seems to be continuing unhindered.

The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world's most crucial oil and gas transit chokepoints. Iran had closed the Strait earlier this year in response to US and Israeli strikes on its territory, throwing global energy markets into chaos.

Reopening the waterway had been a key part of the recently signed memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran, which aims at bringing the war to an end.

US and Iranian officials were due to meet in Switzerland along with mediators from Qatar and Pakistan on Friday to begin negotiations on the implementation of the agreement.

That meeting was postponed, but US media has reported that US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have since arrived in Switzerland.

The Iranian foreign ministry also confirmed to state-run news agency Fars that a delegation has left Tehran for Switzerland. According to Fars, it is headed by parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and includes Abbas Araghchi, Iran's foreign minister, along with other officials representing national security, the central bank and the oil industry.

Fighting between Hezbollah and IDF continued into Saturday

It comes after Israel carried out a fresh wave of strikes on southern Lebanon on Saturday morning following the announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah on Friday.

At least 20 people were killed and many were injured in the strikes on the Nabatieh area, Lebanon's civil defence agency said.

The Israel Defense Forces said the strikes were in response to its forces coming under fire from more than 50 Hezbollah launches in southern Lebanon overnight.

"Among the targets struck were rocket launch positions, weapons storage facilities, and command centers," it said of its strikes on Lebanon.

The IDF later reported that four Israeli soldiers were killed during the fighting on Friday and one more on Saturday.