{"id":389382,"date":"2026-04-09T06:51:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T06:51:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/389382\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T06:51:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T06:51:16","slug":"iran-closes-strait-of-hormuz-again-in-response-to-israeli-attacks-in-lebanon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/389382\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran closes Strait of Hormuz again in response to Israeli attacks in Lebanon"},"content":{"rendered":"

Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz again on Wednesday in response to Israeli attacks against the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, casting doubt over whether an already precarious ceasefire to end more than a month of war will hold.<\/p>\n

The US and Iran both claimed victory after reaching the agreement, and world leaders expressed relief, even as more drones and missiles hit Iran and Gulf Arab countries.<\/p>\n

Israel also intensified its attacks in Lebanon, hitting several commercial and residential areas in Beirut without warning.<\/p>\n

An Iranian cluster munition missile explodes in the sky over northern Israel (Ariel Schalit\/AP)<\/p>\n

At least 112 people were killed and hundreds were wounded in one of the deadliest days in the latest Israel-Hezbollah war.<\/p>\n

The fresh violence threatened to scuttle what US Vice President JD Vance called a \u201cfragile\u201d deal.<\/p>\n

\u201cAggression towards Lebanon is aggression towards Iran,\u201d General Seyed Majid Mousavi, aerospace commander of Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guard, wrote on X.<\/p>\n

He warned that Iranian forces were preparing a \u201cheavy response\u201d without revealing details.<\/p>\n

US defence secretary Pete Hegseth said American and Israeli forces had achieved a \u201ccapital V military victory\u201d and that the Iranian military no longer posed a significant threat to US forces or the region.<\/p>\n

US President Donald Trump warned on Tuesday that \u2018a whole civilisation will die tonight\u2019 if a deal was not reached (Alex Brandon\/PA)<\/p>\n

The Iranian military said the country forced Israel and the U.S. to accept its \u201cproposed conditions and surrender\u201d.<\/p>\n

Even before the new attacks, much about the ceasefire agreement was unclear as the sides presented vastly different visions of the terms.<\/p>\n

But the details were not clear, nor was it known whether vessels would feel safe using the channel or whether ship traffic had resumed.<\/p>\n

It also was unclear whether any other country agreed to this condition.<\/p>\n

Pakistan, which helped to mediate the deal, and others said fighting would pause in Lebanon, where Israel has launched a ground invasion against the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group.<\/p>\n

Israel said it would not, and strikes hit Beirut on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Protesters carry Iranian flags during a rally to show solidarity with Iran, in Tahrir Square, Baghdad, Iraq (Hadi Mizban\/AP)<\/p>\n

The fate of Iran\u2019s missile and nuclear programmes- the elimination of which were major objectives for the US and Israel in going to war \u2014 also remained unclear.<\/p>\n

Mr Trump said the US would work with Iran to remove buried enriched uranium, though Iran did not confirm that.<\/p>\n

In the streets of Tehran, pro-government demonstrators screamed: \u201cDeath to America, death to Israel, death to compromisers!\u201d after the ceasefire announcement and burned American and Israeli flags.<\/p>\n

The chants underscored the anger animating hard-liners, who have been preparing for what many assumed would be an apocalyptic battle with the US.<\/p>\n

Mr Trump warned on Tuesday that \u201ca whole civilisation will die tonight\u201d if a deal was not reached.<\/p>\n

Mr Trump initially said Iran proposed a \u201cworkable\u201d 10-point plan that could help end the war the US launched with Israel on February 28.<\/p>\n

But when a version in Farsi emerged that indicated Iran would be allowed to continue enriching uranium \u2014 which is key to building a nuclear weapon \u2014 Mr Trump called it fraudulent without elaborating.<\/p>\n

First responders work at the site of an Israeli airstrike that struck an apartment building in Beirut, Lebanon (Bilal Hussein\/AP)<\/p>\n

Mr Vance later said the deal was being misrepresented within Iran, though he did not offer details.<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s demands for ending the war include a withdrawal of US combat forces from the region, the lifting of sanctions, and the release of its frozen assets.<\/p>\n

In his post Wednesday, Mr Trump said: \u201cWe are, and will be, talking Tariff and Sanctions relief with Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was not clear if other Western nations would agree to that, and the other points are likely nonstarters.<\/p>\n

United Nations secretary general Antonio Guterres\u2019s personal envoy arrived in Iran for talks on \u201cthe way forward\u201d.<\/p>\n

Pakistan said talks to seek a permanent end to the war could begin in Islamabad as soon as Friday.<\/p>\n

Mr Trump told The New York Post that in-person talks would happen \u201cvery soon\u201d.<\/p>\n

Israel backed the US ceasefire with Iran, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the deal does not cover fighting against Hezbollah.<\/p>\n

(PA Graphics)<\/p>\n

Mr Trump told PBS News Hour that Lebanon was not included in the ceasefire deal \u201cbecause of Hezbollah\u201d.<\/p>\n

Israeli chief of staff Lt Gen Eyal Zamir said Israel will continue to \u201cutilise every operational opportunity\u201d to strike Hezbollah.<\/p>\n

The Israeli military said it struck more than 100 targets within 10 minutes Wednesday across Lebanon, the largest wave of strikes since March 1.<\/p>\n

While Iran could not match the sophistication of US and Israeli weaponry or their dominance in the air, its ability to control the Strait of Hormuz proved a tremendous strategic advantage.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

That roiled the world economy and raised the pressure on Mr Trump both at home and abroad to find a way out of the standoff.<\/p>\n

The ceasefire may formalise a system of charging fees in the strait that Iran instituted \u2014 and give it a new source of revenue.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Pro-government demonstrators burn the US and Israeli flags after announcement of a two-week ceasefire in the war in Tehran (Vahid Salemi\/AP)<\/p>\n

The official said Iran would use the money it raised for reconstruction.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said passage through the strait would be allowed under Iranian military management \u2014 further clouding the picture of who would be allowed to transit the waterway.<\/p>\n

News of the ceasefire sent stock markets surging worldwide, and oil prices plunged back toward 90 dollars (\u00a366) per barrel.<\/p>\n

US-Israeli strikes have battered Iran and its leadership, but they have not entirely eliminated the threats posed by Tehran\u2019s nuclear programme, its ballistic missiles or its support for regional proxies, like Hezbollah.<\/p>\n

The US and Israel said addressing those threats was a key justification for going to war.<\/p>\n

Mr Trump said on Wednesday that the US would work with Iran to \u201cdig up and remove\u201d enriched uranium that was buried under joint US-Israeli strikes in June.<\/p>\n

He added that none of the material had been touched since.<\/p>\n

The Indian flagged LPG carrier Jag Vasant transporting liquefied petroleum gas at Mumbai Port after it arrived clearing the Strait of Hormuz (Rafiq Maqbool\/AP)<\/p>\n

Any retrieval is expected to be an intensive undertaking.<\/p>\n

There was no confirmation from Iran on that.<\/p>\n

Mr Hegseth told a Pentagon briefing on Wednesday that the US would do \u201csomething like\u201d last June\u2019s joint strikes with Israel on Iranian nuclear sites if the country refuses to surrender its enriched uranium voluntarily.<\/p>\n

Tehran insisted for years that its nuclear programme was peaceful, although it enriched uranium up to 60% purity, a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels.<\/p>\n

Iran referred to its nuclear programme differently in two versions of the ceasefire plan that it released.<\/p>\n

The version in Farsi included the phrase \u201cacceptance of enrichment\u201d for its nuclear programme \u2013 that phrase was missing in English versions shared by Iranian diplomats with journalists.<\/p>\n

Mr Hegseth said the US military has done its part \u201cfor now\u201d but stands ready to ensure Iran complies all the ceasefire\u2019s terms.<\/p>\n

Shortly after the ceasefire announcement, Bahrain, Israel, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE all issued warnings about incoming missiles from Iran.<\/p>\n

A woman walks past a mural depicting Iranian astronauts in space in Tehran (Francisco Seco\/AP)<\/p>\n

That fire stopped for a time, then hostilities appeared to restart.<\/p>\n

An oil refinery on Iran\u2019s Lavan Island came under attack, according to Iranian state television.<\/p>\n

Its report said that firefighters were working to contain the blaze but no one had been hurt.<\/p>\n

It did not say who launched the attack.<\/p>\n

The island is home to one of the terminals that Iran uses to export oil and gas.<\/p>\n

A short time later, the UAE\u2019s air defences fired at an incoming Iranian missile barrage.<\/p>\n

Kuwait\u2019s military forces, meanwhile, responded to an \u201cextensive wave\u201d of drone attacks.<\/p>\n

Saudi Arabia said it intercepted nine drones.<\/p>\n

People at the site of a coffee shop damaged in an Israeli strike in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon (Mohammed Zaatari\/AP)<\/p>\n

Kuwaiti authorities said three power and water desalination plants have been severely damaged after 28 Iranian drones were launched on the oil-rich country on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

More than 1,900 people had been killed in Iran as of late March, but the government has not updated the war\u2019s toll for days.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz again on Wednesday in response to Israeli attacks against the Hezbollah militant…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":389383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,11829,43,6514,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-389382","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-iran","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-place-international","12":"tag-top-news","13":"tag-top-stories","14":"tag-topnews","15":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=389382"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389382\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/389383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=389382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=389382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=389382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}