Tehran says Strait of Hormuz is closed again as Israel bombards Lebanon
Washington: While Iran says it has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz after Israel stepped up its attacks on Lebanon, the White House insists it will subject the Iranian regime to the conditions of a “fragile ceasefire” for less than 24 hours.
Multiple Iranian news agencies said Iran stopped oil tankers from passing through the strait after Israel carried out its biggest attack against Hezbollah since the beginning of the war.
The Israel Defense Forces said it hit 100 targets in just one minute, including command centers, missile infrastructure and other assets.
“As long as Hezbollah continues to threaten our civilians, we will continue to operate against them,” an IDF spokesman said.
In his first speech since the ceasefire began, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel was ready to continue hitting Iran at any time.
“We are ready to return to war at any moment, our finger is on the trigger,” he said. “Iran is weaker than ever, Israel is stronger than ever.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt clarified that Lebanon was not part of the agreed ceasefire, although the Pakistani Prime Minister had previously said it was.
He said US President Donald Trump and Netanyahu may discuss including Lebanon in a ceasefire in the future, but gave no indication that the US wants such an outcome any time soon.
The sticking point over Lebanon, which emerged amid confusion over the US and Iran tentatively reaching an agreement with Pakistani mediators, threatens to derail the ceasefire in less than 24 hours.
Leavitt said the White House is closely monitoring traffic in the Strait of Hormuz and that what Iran is saying publicly about closing that strait differs from what is being told privately to the United States.
“We saw that the traffic on the Bosphorus increased,” he said. “This is something we monitor minute by minute, hour by hour.”
Leavitt said he had been made aware of Trump’s claims that Iran was closing the strait and that, if true, it would be “completely unacceptable.” His demand was for the waterway to be reopened quickly and without any hindrance, including tolls.
Leavitt also said that the versions of the 10-point “plan” circulating in the media and various branches of the Iranian government are not the same as the “modified” 10-point proposal that Iran privately presented to mediators.
Multiple manifestos published online and in media outlets around the world showed Iran seeking war reparations and the withdrawal of U.S. forces from all military bases in the region, among other demands.
Leavitt said the regime had since “acknowledged the truth” and put forward a much more plausible and completely different proposal, but would not elaborate or make the document public.
He confirmed that the US negotiating team led by him, Vice President J.D. Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner will travel to Pakistan’s capital Islamabad for talks starting on Saturday (Pakistan time).
“This is a fragile ceasefire,” Leavitt said. “A ceasefire is inherently fragile… We understand things take time.”
Another outstanding question is the fate of hundreds of kilograms of highly enriched uranium in Iran’s possession, which could form the basis of its future nuclear weapons program and was apparently the root cause of the war when it began 39 days ago.
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said that the US reserves the right to take back uranium by force if necessary. But he also argued that he knew the “new Iranian regime” would never have nuclear weapons.
“He’s buried and we’re tracking him. We know exactly what he has in his hands,” Hegseth said.
“Either they give it voluntarily and we take it out. Or if we have to do something else ourselves, just like we used to do. [Operation] “We’re reserving that opportunity for Midnight Hammer or something like that.”
Trump, meanwhile, suggested that the United States and Iran would work together to remove the nuclear “dust.” Posting on his social media platform Truth Social, he also said the US would discuss relieving sanctions and tariffs on Iran.
He continued to insist that Tehran was experiencing “a very productive Regime Change”; this claim has been rejected by most Iran experts; While U.S. and Israeli strikes have killed many of Iran’s former senior personnel, he says the regime’s foundations remain strong.
Trump said Iran could begin the rebuilding process. “There will be lots of positive action! Big money to be made,” he wrote.
Michael Koziol is the North America correspondent for The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former Sydney editor, Sun-Herald deputy editor and a federal political correspondent in Canberra.Connect with: X or email.
