TEHRAN, June 20: Iran's top joint military command, Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, said on Saturday that the Strait of Hormuz would be closed to vessel traffic, citing alleged violations of a ceasefire agreement by the U.S. and Israel, Iran's Mehr state news agency reported.
It said that the closure was the "first step" in response to what it described as breaches of commitments and warned that further measures would be taken if "aggression" continued.
Israeli strikes killed at least 32 people across southern and eastern Lebanon on Saturday, Lebanese authorities said, as Hezbollah insisted it retained the right to respond to attacks despite a renewed ceasefire announced just a day earlier and as US-Iran diplomacy aimed at consolidating a broader regional truce hung in the balance.
The violence threatened to derail efforts by Washington and Tehran to build on a preliminary agreement reached this week by US President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to halt fighting across multiple fronts in the Middle East, including Lebanon.
A US official announced on Friday that American and Qatari mediators had brokered a renewed ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement after days of escalating clashes. Israel's ambassador to Washington said Israel would respect the truce if Hezbollah did the same.
But Israeli forces launched fresh attacks hours later, with an Israeli military official accusing Hezbollah of firing more than 50 projectiles at Israeli troops operating in southern Lebanon overnight.
Lebanese civil defence officials said Israeli strikes on the Nabatieh district killed 16 people and wounded 12. Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA) reported additional attacks in the Tyre district, where an Israeli strike on the village of Barish killed four members of the same family - a father, mother and their two children.
A Lebanese soldier was also killed in an Israeli strike on KfarReman, according to the NNA, while another person died in an Israeli attack on the eastern Bekaa Valley, bringing Saturday's nationwide death toll to at least 32.
AFP journalists on both sides of the border reported multiple explosions and plumes of smoke rising from southern Lebanon, including near the strategic Beaufort Castle overlooking the Nabatieh area.
Hezbollah said its fighters had confronted Israeli troops attempting to advance towards the Ali Taher hills overlooking Nabatieh during the night.
"Again, under the cover of the ceasefire, the enemy last night carried out an infiltration attempt towards the Ali Taher hills," the group said in a statement, adding that its fighters ambushed Israeli forces and "confronted them with appropriate weapons".
While affirming its commitment to the ceasefire, Hezbollah said it would "not be lenient in confronting any enemy attempt ... to expand its occupation".
The Israeli military said Hezbollah's overnight attacks constituted a violation of the ceasefire and justified its response.
An Israeli military official, quoted by public broadcaster Kan, said Israel's approach remained "on the basis of fire being answered with fire".
Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said his movement's position depended on Israel fully respecting the ceasefire.
"There is talk of a ceasefire. For us, what concerns us is that the enemy fully and comprehensively respects the ceasefire," Fadlallah said.
"The resistance has the full right to confront this enemy when it attacks us, as it is the aggressor and the occupier," he added.
Another Hezbollah parliamentarian, Ali Fayyad, said the group ruled out any lasting ceasefire while Israeli troops remained on Lebanese territory.
"A ceasefire while the enemy continues its targeting and assassinations is meaningless," Fayyad said, according to remarks carried by Iran's Tasnim news agency. "AGENCIES
