US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose American tolls on the Strait of Hormuz, after Iran declared the crucial waterway closed once again overnight – already threatening the interim agreement to end the war.
The Iranian joint military command said the strait was shut in response to ongoing Israeli attacks in Lebanon, and said while its negotiators are going to Switzerland for talks, not much is likely to happen there.
The Strait of Hormuz has been closed again. Getty
Key mediator Pakistan, meanwhile, said the technical-level talks will begin on Sunday in Bürgenstock, Switzerland, with Qatari mediators also participating.
In Tehran’s first salvo, Iran’s joint military command said the strait had been closed, citing the Israeli attacks and US “bad faith” and “clear breach of its commitments” by failing to end the war. Its statement on state television warned that “if the aggression continues, subsequent steps have been planned.”
Shortly after that, the state broadcaster announced that Iran’s negotiating team was heading to Switzerland “in the coming minutes,” a trip that had been originally planned for Friday.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Bagahei, however, signalled that little might happen until Iran feels the US is living up to the deal.
“This trip is therefore about demanding that the other side fulfil its obligations,” he said, adding that negotiations toward a final agreement will begin only once key commitments are upheld.
If they are not, he said, “then the memorandum of understanding as a whole will be jeopardised”.
Overnight, Trump responded with a Truth Social post in which he threatened to impose US tolls on the use of the Strait of Hormuz.
“There will be NO TOLLS in the Hormuz Strait for 60 days during the Cease Fire Period, and there will be NO TOLLS after the 60 day period has expired, unless they are imposed by and for the United States of America, should the deal not be completed, for services rendered as the Guardian Angel to the countries of the Middle East for purposes of both past, present, and future reimbursement of costs,” he wrote.
Meanwhile, US Central Command denied that Iran had closed the strait, the opening of which was a crucial tenet of the interim agreement.
“Safe passage through the international waterway remained intact today as 55 merchant ships transited, moving large amounts of cargo and more than 17 million barrels of oil to global markets,” CENTCOM said in a post on X.
The US has denied the Strait of Hormuz has been closed. Getty
“The Joint Maritime Information Centre issued an advisory this week affirming safe passage for all vessels along a designated route that is free of arbitrary requirement claims or impediments.”
CENTCOM said US forces in the region would “ensure all aspects of the agreement with Iran are adhered to, obeyed, and in full force and effect”.
In Washington, Vice President JD Vance confirmed on Saturday that the top US negotiators — Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff — were already in Switzerland and have been working through technical details of the anticipated negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program.
Vance told Fox News that he expects to leave for Switzerland “sometime the next couple of days” but acknowledged that “it’s always a delicate coordination dance”.
Meanwhile, the global economy braced for more uncertainty. Ships had begun transiting the strait after the interim US-Iran agreement was signed earlier in the week, a milestone that has left plenty of questions unanswered.
Israeli attacks in Lebanon kill at least 16
A Hezbollah official told The Associated Press that Iran informed the militant group that Tehran won’t reopen the strait until Israel announces publicly that it will comply with a “comprehensive ceasefire” in Lebanon and an end to military operations there. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorised to speak publicly.
The official said that Hezbollah would commit to a ceasefire if Israel does.
An Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, later said that the military had received “updated directives from the political echelon to cease fire”.
The official said that the military is operating in a defensive manner in Lebanon, which includes the right to respond to Hezbollah attacks.
The official also said that five Israeli soldiers had been killed in the past 48 hours in southern Lebanon.
Earlier Saturday, Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon killed at least 16 people, including two children, hours after reports emerged of a ceasefire agreement there.
Seven people were trapped under rubble after strikes hit the southern city of Nabatiyeh and nearby villages, Lebanon’s National News Agency said.
The death toll in the latest Israel-Hezbollah war has surpassed 4000, Lebanon’s health ministry later announced.
Mediators were scrambling to halt the fighting between Israel and the militant Lebanese Hezbollah group, after a heavy exchange on Friday killed at least 47 people in Lebanon and four Israeli soldiers.
An Israeli military official said Hezbollah had fired more than 50 projectiles at Israeli forces in southern Lebanon overnight, prompting the military to start targeting the militant group there.
The official spoke anonymously in line with regulations. The army said it struck dozens of Hezbollah targets and militants in southern Lebanon, including rocket-launching positions and Hezbollah command centres.
On Friday, Israeli ambassador to Washington, Yechiel Leiter, said on X that Israel “remains firmly committed to an immediate ceasefire” if Hezbollah honours the agreement and ceases hostilities.
Smoke rises following an Israeli military strike in southern Lebanon on Friday. AP Photo/Leo Correa
On Saturday, Hezbollah said it had committed to the ceasefire but blamed Israel for violating it several times on Friday night. A statement issued by the group’s military wing said it would abide by the ceasefire but would also repel attacks by Israeli troops.
A conflict that could sink the US-Iran deal
Hezbollah and Israel went to war just days after the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28, with Hezbollah firing rockets and drones at northern Israel and Israel seizing large swaths of southern Lebanon.
The interim US-Iran agreement signed this week has already reopened the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran had closed as the war unfolded — cutting off the global economy from significant supplies of oil and natural gas. The deal also envisages the relaunch of talks on Iran’s nuclear program, a core issue in the war.
Neither Israel nor Hezbollah are signatories to the deal, which calls for a halt to military operations in Lebanon and for the country’s sovereignty to be respected. With the fighting continuing, the accord is under threat and US-Iran talks in Switzerland, planned to start Friday, have been delayed, with no new date announced.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to keep Israeli forces in southern Lebanon until any threat to Israel is eliminated. Hezbollah has refused to halt its attacks unless Israel commits to withdrawing from Lebanon, which Iran says is also a condition of the deal.
A new round of US-backed talks between the Lebanese government and Israel is expected to take place in Washington next week.
The fighting in the south, near the Israel-Lebanon border
A strike on the village of Barish killed four members of a family, parents and two children. In Arab Salim village, a body was pulled from a destroyed house, and in the villages of Doueir and Kfar Rumman, drone strikes killed a person on a motorcycle and a Lebanese soldier. Nine people were killed in strikes in the villages of Qannarit, Sohmor and Shehour.
Plumes of smoke rose into the sky over southern Lebanon and Israeli jets flew low over the coastal city of Tyre on Saturday. Residents there told The Associated Press they were relieved that Tyre had been spared in recent days but the sounds of Israeli planes reminded them the war is not over.
Many doubted a ceasefire — even if agreed on — would hold.
Displaced people fleeing Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon. AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari
“Our entire lives would change if there’s a ceasefire,” said Hussein Khoshman, a Tyre resident.
Netanyahu’s office did not immediately comment on the ceasefire efforts. On Friday, Netanyahu posted on X that, on his orders, the Israeli army had “struck powerfully” 150 Hezbollah targets, killing dozens of militants.
Military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said the Israeli forces were operating in a “forward defence zone” and would continue doing so.