TYRE, Lebanon — Iran on Saturday said it closed the Strait of Hormuz because of Israel's attacks in Lebanon and warned that while negotiators were going to Switzerland for talks with the United States on their interim agreement, not much likely will happen if the fighting doesn't stop.
Key mediator Pakistan said technical-level talks will begin Sunday, with Qatari mediators also participating.
Iran's joint military command said the strait was closed because of the U.S. "clear breach of its commitments" by failing to end the war. The interim deal is meant to stop fighting on all fronts.
Shortly after that, Iran's state broadcaster said the negotiating team was leaving for Switzerland, a trip delayed from Friday. State media said the team includes parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and central bank and oil officials, among others. The deal calls for Iran's assets to be unfrozen.
The U.S. disputed Iran's announcement on the strait. “Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz. Traffic continues to flow, and U.S. forces are monitoring the situation to ensure this remains the case,” said Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for U.S. Central Command. The military said 55 merchant ships transited Saturday with more than 17 million barrels of oil.
Iran's team departs for talks as uncertainty grows
Negotiations toward a final agreement will begin once key commitments are upheld, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said. If they are not, “the memorandum of understanding as a whole will be jeopardized.”
U.S. Vice President JD Vance confirmed that top negotiators Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff were in Switzerland and working through technical details of anticipated negotiations on Iran's nuclear program. The interim deal gives negotiators 60 days to reach a nuclear agreement, but that can be extended.
Vance told Fox News that he expects to leave for Switzerland in "the next couple of days.”
As part of efforts to revive direct talks, Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi met Araghchi in Tehran earlier Saturday, according to officials in Islamabad who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
The global economy braced for more uncertainty.
Ships began transiting after the interim U.S.-Iran agreement was signed earlier in the week, a milestone that left plenty of questions unanswered. The U.S. lifted its blockade of Iran's ports and now allows Tehran to sell its oil freely — terms that have left some in Congress asking whether the war was worth it.
Israeli attacks in Lebanon kill at least 16
A Hezbollah official told The Associated Press that Iran informed the militant group that Tehran will not 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 was not authorized to speak publicly.
The official said Hezbollah will commit to a ceasefire if Israel does.
An Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, later said the military had received “updated directives from the political echelon to cease fire.” The official said the military is operating in a defensive manner in Lebanon, which includes the right to respond to Hezbollah attacks.
The official also said 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 war between Israel and Hezbollah has surpassed 4,000, Lebanon’s health ministry later announced.
An Israeli military official said Hezbollah fired more than 50 projectiles at Israeli forces in southern Lebanon overnight. Israel's army said it struck dozens of Hezbollah targets and militants.
On Friday, the Israeli ambassador to Washington, Yechiel Leiter, said Israel “remains firmly committed to an immediate ceasefire” if Hezbollah honors the agreement and ceases hostilities.
Earlier Saturday, Hezbollah said it had committed to the ceasefire but blamed Israel for violating it Friday night and said it would repel attacks by Israeli troops.
The conflict could sink the US-Iran deal
Neither Israel nor Hezbollah are signatories to the deal between the U.S. and Iran.
Hezbollah and Israel went to war two days after the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, with Hezbollah firing rockets and drones at northern Israel and Israel seizing large swaths of southern Lebanon.
A new round of U.S.-backed talks between the Lebanese government and Israel is expected in Washington next week.
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.
Fighting continues near the Israel-Lebanon border
A strike on Lebanon's Barish village killed four members of a family: parents and two children. In Arab Salim village, a body was pulled from a destroyed house, and in Doueir and Kfar Rumman villages, drone strikes killed a person on a motorcycle and a Lebanese soldier. Nine people were killed in strikes in Qannarit, Sohmor and Shehour villages.
Israeli jets flew low over the coastal city of Tyre. Residents told The Associated Press they were relieved that Tyre had been spared in recent days, but now they were reminded that the war is not over.
“Our entire lives would change if there’s a ceasefire,” said one resident, Hussein Khoshman.
Some residents of northern Israel doubted the fighting would stop. “I don’t believe in a ceasefire because it doesn’t exist,” said Miriam Hod in Metula.
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Mroue reported from Beirut and Munir from Islamabad. Associated Press writers Abby Sewell in Beirut, Samy Magdy in Cairo, Seung Min Kim and Konstantin Toropin in Washington, Josef Federman in Jerusalem and Jamey Keaten in Zurich, Switzerland, contributed to this report.
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This version corrects the spelling of the Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson’s last name to Baghaei.
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