In Brief
- Iran's Revolutionary Guards say Strait of Hormuz is shut again.
- US Central Command says many ships have transited Strait.
Iran says it has closed the Strait of Hormuz again, citing what it called Israeli "crimes" in Lebanon and a US violation of commitments to establish a ceasefire — though the United States insists the vital waterway remains open.
It comes as a high-level Iranian team arrived in Switzerland for peace talks with the US, Iranian state media reported, as US Vice President JD Vance departed Washington for meetings that Pakistan said will begin on Sunday.
Although the US and Iran had agreed to a 60-day ceasefire while negotiations take place, Tehran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Saturday declared the Strait of Hormuz shut.
Follow-up talks had been planned in Switzerland on Friday but were postponed at the last minute after Israel launched deadly strikes in Lebanon following the deaths of four of its soldiers in combat.
Washington announced a renewed ceasefire there later Friday — a condition of its preliminary agreement with Iran — but Israeli troops clashed again with Hezbollah fighters on Saturday, with each side accusing the other of breaking the truce.
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Iran says ships at risk again on Strait of Hormuz
Citing a US "breach of contract" and "the Zionist regime's continuous and relentless violation of the ceasefire in southern Lebanon", Iran's central military command said "the Strait of Hormuz will be closed to vessel traffic."
This could complicate talks in which both sides seek to advance an interim deal brokered by Pakistan and signed on Wednesday by US President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to end their almost four-month war.
The IRGC warned ships would be at risk if they approached the waterway, a vital conduit for global oil and gas supplies.
US Central Command said after Iran's announcement that safe passage through the international waterway had "remained intact" and that US forces were "present and vigilant".
It said 55 merchant ships had transited the strait on Saturday, moving large amounts of cargo and more than 17 million barrels of oil to global markets, and that US forces would ensure the flow of ships continued.
US President Donald Trump in a social media post on Saturday wrote that no toll will be charged for passage through the Strait during or after the 60-day ceasefire — unless the US imposes one should peace talks fail.
Trump left open the possibility of a Hormuz toll levied by the United States "for services rendered as the Guardian Angel to the countries of the Middle East" if a peace deal is not completed.
Mohammad Mokhber, an adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, accused the US on X of failing to implement the first clause of its 14-point interim deal with Iran, which includes a ceasefire "on all fronts", including Lebanon.
He said that, as long as the agreement was only on paper, the flow of Middle East energy would remain halted.
Momentum builds for US-Iran talks in Switzerland
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Iran would press in Switzerland for fulfilment of commitments, citing past failures by the other side to honour agreements.
Vance, in an interview with Fox News, said he was confident the ceasefire agreed in the US's 14-point deal with Iran would hold, and that he had seen no evidence that the strait was closed.
The US vice president left for Switzerland shortly after 4pm (2100 GMT) on Saturday. Negotiators would likely have a “couple days of talks," Vance told reporters before boarding a plane at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.
“I can only be there for a day or two," Vance said. "I think we're going to hopefully make progress on the nuclear issue, make progress on the Lebanon ceasefire issue."
One of the conditions for starting 60 days of US-Iranian talks on Tehran's nuclear program and other issues is a halt to fighting in Lebanon.
However, Lebanese Civil Defence said that 20 people had been killed by Israeli strikes in Lebanon on Saturday, hours after a truce there took effect.
Israel said it was responding to attacks from Hezbollah, while the Iran-backed group said it would not allow Israel "freedom of movement" in Lebanon.
Israel, left out of the talks, says it is not party to the Iran-US deal, and will keep its forces in the Lebanese territory it occupies.
A US official had said the truce took effect at 4pm (1300 GMT) on Friday, and Israeli and Hezbollah sources confirmed the agreement to Reuters.
The Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 reported that the prime minister and defence minister had instructed the military to hold fire in Lebanon, but that it would not withdraw from areas it had captured.
Fighting in Lebanon continues
Israel and Hezbollah continued trading accusations Saturday as fighting persisted in southern Lebanon.
The Israeli military said one soldier was killed in combat, the fifth such fatality since the US-Iran deal was reached.
An Israeli army official later said the military had received orders from the country's political leadership to cease fire, adding that troops were "not conducting proactive strikes" but operating defensively inside a security zone.
Earlier, an Israeli military official said fresh attacks were under way after Hezbollah "launched more than 50 projectiles at Israeli forces in southern Lebanon" overnight.
Hezbollah accused Israel of carrying out "under the cover of the ceasefire...an infiltration attempt towards the Ali Taher hills", a strategic feature overlooking Nabatieh, and said its fighters had responded "with appropriate weapons".
Lebanese state media reported Israeli air raids on around 20 locations, with authorities counting more than 30 dead. The overall death toll from the fighting in Lebanon had surpassed 4,000, the health ministry said.
Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said his group retained "the full right to confront this enemy when it attacks us".
Israel's US ambassador Yechiel Leiter maintained it was Hezbollah that broke the truce, saying Israel was "defending itself against terrorist attacks".
But Hezbollah said Israel bore "full responsibility".
Fadi Zayat, who fled the southern Lebanon town of Tayr Debba, told AFP that "fear dominates" the south.
"We returned to the village a few days ago, but our bags are ready to flee again," the 53-year-old said.
Hezbollah pulled Lebanon into the wider Middle East conflict in early March when it fired rockets at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran's supreme leader in US-Israeli strikes.
A previous ceasefire meant to take effect in Lebanon in April was never honoured, with each side justifying its attacks by citing alleged violations by the other.
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