Iran's military on Saturday said it will close the Strait of Hormuz again to all shipping, due to what it calls ceasefire violations by Israel in Lebanon.
"In response to the continuous and relentless violations of the ceasefire by the Zionist regime in southern Lebanon, which have resulted in the brutal killing and displacement of hundreds of thousands of innocent people in that territory, 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 military said in a statement reported by the Tasnim news agency on Saturday.
Shutting the key waterway for the global oil trade "is the first step" in the response to the "enemy's breach of trust." It warned that if "aggression continues" more measure will kick in.
Only days ago, the US and Iran agreed to a memorandum of understanding that was to include a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, a halt to hostilities between Washington and Tehran, and the reopening of the waterway.
But the ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel has not held, with the Israeli military on Saturday accusing the Shiite militia of breaching the truce by firing more than 50 projectiles overnight at Israeli forces operating in southern Lebanon.
Meanwhile numerous Israeli airstrikes killed many people in Lebanon, with the Lebanese civil defence authorities saying they had recovered 16 bodies in the southern city of Nabatiyeh alone, Lebanese media reported on Saturday.
