On Saturday afternoon, the military leadership in Tehran announced via state-controlled television that the Strait of Hormuz, which was recently reopened as part of the memorandum of understanding with the United States, had been closed again following the Israeli attacks on targets in Lebanon.
"It is hereby announced that the Strait of Hormuz will be closed to shipping, and that this is a first step in response to the enemy's breach of promise, and that further measures, if necessary, will be taken to force the enemy to honor its commitments," a read-out said.
Iranian delegation leaves
Lebanon's civil defense said 16 people were killed in the latest Israeli strikes, which took place overnight Saturday. The Israeli military said the strikes were in response to projectiles fired by the Iran-backed Shiite militia Hezbollah.
Shortly after the announcement of the closure of the strait, Iranian state television reported that the country would send a delegation to Switzerland, where negotiations with Washington would take place. On Saturday evening, the Swiss Foreign Ministry confirmed in a post on X that the Iranian delegation had arrived.
Pakistan to Switzerland
Shortly before that, it became clear that U.S. Vice President JD Vance had left for Europe to participate in the talks.
"I can only be there for a day or two. I think we can hopefully make progress on the nuclear program and the ceasefire in Lebanon. Those are the two issues I think we will focus on," he told reporters shortly before departing for Switzerland, according to AFP.
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry, the mediating country, said earlier in the day that the negotiations will begin with "technical talks" on Sunday and that mediators from both Pakistan and Qatar will participate in the discussions with Tehran and Washington.
However, Esmail Bagahei, a spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, stressed in connection with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz that the negotiations could come to a standstill if Iran does not feel that the United States is fulfilling its part of the agreement. If this does not happen, "the entire understanding will be jeopardized," Bagahei said, according to the AP.
