Iran says it has closed the Strait of Hormuz due to Israel\u2019s continued 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\u2019t stop.<\/p>\n
Key mediator Pakistan said technical-level talks will begin Sunday in Switzerland, with Qatari mediators also participating.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s joint military command said the strait was closed because of the US \u201cclear breach of its commitments\u201d by failing to end the war. <\/p>\n
The interim deal is meant to stop fighting on all fronts.<\/p>\n
This week\u2019s US-Iran agreement called for an end to fighting on all fronts \u2013 including Lebanon. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n
Shortly after that, the state broadcaster said Iran\u2019s negotiating team was leaving for Switzerland, a trip originally planned for Friday. <\/p>\n
State media said the team includes parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and central bank and oil officials, among others.<\/p>\n
The US disputed Iran’s announcement on the strait. <\/p>\n
\u201cIran does not control the Strait of Hormuz. Traffic continues to flow, and US forces are monitoring the situation to ensure this remains the case,\u201d said Captain Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for US Central Command. <\/p>\n
The military said 55 merchant ships transited on Saturday with more than 17 million barrels of oil.<\/p>\n
Iran’s team departs for talks as uncertainty grows<\/p>\n
Negotiations toward a final agreement will begin only once key commitments are upheld, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said. If they are not, \u201cthe memorandum of understanding as a whole will be jeopardised.\u201d<\/p>\n
Three months ago, the US President insisted there would be no deal without \u201cunconditional surrender\u201d. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n
US Vice President JD Vance confirmed that top negotiators Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff were already in Switzerland and working through technical details of anticipated negotiations on Iran\u2019s nuclear program. <\/p>\n
The interim deal gives negotiators 60 days to reach a nuclear agreement, but that can be extended.<\/p>\n
Vance told Fox News that he expects to leave for Switzerland in “the next couple of days.\u201d<\/p>\n
As part of efforts to revive the 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.<\/p>\n
US President says the agreement prevents an \u2018economic catastrophe\u2019 but one Iranian official calls it a \u201cflag of victory\u201d. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n
The global economy braced for more uncertainty.<\/p>\n
Ships began transiting after the interim US-Iran agreement was signed earlier in the week, a milestone that left plenty of questions unanswered. <\/p>\n
The US lifted its blockade of Iran\u2019s ports and is now allows Tehran to sell its oil freely. <\/p>\n
The deal also calls for Iran\u2019s assets to be unfrozen.<\/p>\n
Israeli attacks in Lebanon kill at least 16<\/p>\n
In Lebanon, a Hezbollah official told the AP that Iran informed the militant group that Tehran will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz until Israel announces publicly that it will comply with a \u201ccomprehensive ceasefire\u201d in Lebanon and an end to military operations there. <\/p>\n
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak publicly.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s claimed to be a leaked copy of the concessions includes sanctions lifted on Tehran and a $500 billion rebuild fund. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n
The official said Hezbollah will commit to a ceasefire if Israel does. There was no immediate Israeli comment.<\/p>\n
Earlier Saturday, Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon killed at least 16 people, including two children, hours after reports emerged of a ceasefire agreement there. <\/p>\n
Seven people were trapped under rubble after strikes hit the southern city of Nabatiyeh and nearby villages, Lebanon\u2019s National News Agency said.<\/p>\n
The death toll in the latest war between Israel and Hezbollah has surpassed 4000, Lebanon\u2019s health ministry later announced. <\/p>\n
A heavy exchange on Friday killed at least 47 people in Lebanon and four Israeli soldiers.<\/p>\n
An Israeli military official, speaking anonymously in line with regulations, said Hezbollah fired more than 50 projectiles at Israeli forces in southern Lebanon overnight. <\/p>\n
Experts predict further falls in fuel prices as the flow of oil resumes through the Strait of Hormuz. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n
Israel’s army said it struck dozens of Hezbollah targets and militants in southern Lebanon.<\/p>\n
On Friday, the Israeli ambassador to Washington, Yechiel Leiter, said Israel \u201cremains firmly committed to an immediate ceasefire\u201d if Hezbollah honours the agreement and ceases hostilities.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The conflict could sink the US-Iran deal<\/p>\n
Neither Israel nor Hezbollah are signatories to the deal between the US and Iran, which calls for a halt to military operations in Lebanon and for the country\u2019s sovereignty to be respected.<\/p>\n
Hezbollah and Israel went to war two 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.<\/p>\n
A new round of US-backed talks between the Lebanese government and Israel is expected to take place in Washington next week.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Fighting continues near the Israel-Lebanon border<\/p>\n
A strike on 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. <\/p>\n
Nine people were killed in strikes in Qannarit, Sohmor and Shehour villages.<\/p>\n
Smoke rose into the sky over southern Lebanon and 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur entire lives would change if there\u2019s a ceasefire,\u201d said one resident, Hussein Khoshman.<\/p>\n
Military spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said Israeli forces were operating in a \u201cforward defence zone\u201d and would continue doing so.<\/p>\n
Some residents of northern Israel doubted the fighting would stop. <\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t believe in a ceasefire because it doesn\u2019t exist,\u201d said Miriam Hod in Metula.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Iran says it has closed the Strait of Hormuz due to Israel\u2019s continued attacks in Lebanon and warned…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":487502,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,5107,43,64,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-487501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-middle-east","tag-news","tag-north-america","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=487501"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487501\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/487502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=487501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=487501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=487501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}