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The latest closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran poses a potential threat to the recent ceasefire agreement with the United States.
TEHRAN, IRAN — In response to Israeli military actions in Lebanon, Iran has once again shut the strategic Strait of Hormuz, according to reports from Iranian state media.
This decisive action follows closely on the heels of Iran’s reported acceptance of a ceasefire with the United States, which had temporarily reopened the essential oil route to global markets. The agreement marked a pause in hostilities, as the U.S., Iran, and Israel consented to a two-week halt in their protracted conflict, allowing both nations to assert their standings.
General Seyed Majid Mousavi, a prominent figure in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, took to the platform X to state, “An attack on Lebanon is an attack on Iran.” He hinted at a robust response from Iranian forces, though he withheld specifics.
On Wednesday, Israeli airstrikes unexpectedly targeted several civilian and commercial districts within central Beirut, just hours after the ceasefire in the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran had been declared. The Lebanese government reported at least 112 fatalities and hundreds more injured, marking one of the most devastating days in the ongoing Israel-Hezbollah conflict.
Israel says Iran-US ceasefire doesn’t apply to Lebanon
Israeli strikes hit several commercial and residential areas in central Beirut without warning on Wednesday, hours after a ceasefire was announced in the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. Lebanon said at least 112 people were killed and hundreds were wounded in what was one of the deadliest days in the latest Israel-Hezbollah war.
U.S. President Donald Trump told PBS News Hour that Lebanon was not included in the deal because of the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group. When asked about Israel’s latest strikes, he said, “That’s a separate skirmish.” Israel had said the agreement does not extend to its war with the Iran-backed Hezbollah, although mediator Pakistan said it does.
The fleeting sense of relief among Lebanese after the ceasefire announcement turned into panic with what Israel’s military called its largest coordinated strike in the current war, hitting more than 100 Hezbollah targets within 10 minutes in Beirut, southern Lebanon and the eastern Bekaa Valley.
Black smoke towered over several parts of the seaside capital, where a huge number of people displaced by war have taken shelter. Explosions interrupted the honking of traffic on what had been a bustling, blue-sky afternoon. Ambulances raced toward open flames. Apartment buildings were struck.
Associated Press journalists saw charred bodies in vehicles and on the ground at one of Beirut’s busiest intersections in the central Corniche al Mazraa neighborhood, a mixed commercial and residential area. Using forklifts, rescue workers removed smoldering debris and sifted through ruins for survivors.
There was no sign of Hezbollah launching strikes against Israel in the first couple of hours after the attacks.
Iran and Oman planned to collect shipping fees in Strait of Hormuz from ceasefire
While Iran could not match the sophistication of U.S. and Israeli weaponry or their dominance in the air, its ability to control the Strait of Hormuz proved a tremendous strategic advantage. Iranian attacks and threats deterred many commercial ships from passing through the waterway, through which 20% of all traded oil and natural gas passes in peacetime.
That roiled the world economy and raised the pressure on Trump both at home and abroad to find a way out of the standoff.
The ceasefire may formalize a system of charging fees in the strait that Iran instituted — and give it a new source of revenue.
The plan allows for both Iran and Oman to charge ships, according to a regional official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss negotiations they were directly involved in. The official said Iran would use the money it raised for reconstruction.
That would upend decades of precedent treating the strait as an international waterway that was free to transit and will likely not be acceptable to the Gulf Arab states, which also need to rebuild after repeated Iranian attacks targeting their oil fields.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said passage through the strait would be allowed under Iranian military management, further clouding the picture of who would be allowed to transit the waterway.
News of the ceasefire sent stock markets surging worldwide, and oil prices plunged back toward $90 per barrel.
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