After the US and Iran agreed on a two-week ceasefire on Tuesday, Iran gave permission for two oil tankers to safely pass through the strait. These could be the last two for a while if the state media reports are to be believed, though there has been no official confirmation of the closure. Hours after the ceasefire announcement, Iran and Gulf Arab countries reported new attacks, though it was not clear if the strikes would void the deal.
Iran said the deal would allow it to formalise its new practice of charging ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, while Donald Trump said the US would work with Tehran to remove buried enriched uranium.
Pakistan and others said fighting would pause in Lebanon, which Israel has invaded to fight the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group, but Benjamin Netanyahu said the deal doesn’t cover fighting against Hezbollah.
Israeli strikes hit several dense commercial and residential areas in central Beirut on Wednesday afternoon without warning, killing dozens and wounding hundreds of people.
Speaking to the Fars news agency, a military source said Tehran is « finalising preparations to carry out a deterrent operation against Zionist regime military positions in the occupied territories ».
They said the regime’s view is that « either the US is unable to control Netanyahu or that CENTCOM has issued a free-hand order to the Zionist regime ».
They added that Tehran is « identifying targets to respond », warning: « If America cannot restrain its rabid dog in the region, Iran will exceptionally help it in this regard! And by force. »
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