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Iran's central military command announced Saturday that it had closed the Strait of Hormuz to vessel traffic, citing what it called a clear breach by the United States of the agreement ending the war and continued Israeli violations of the ceasefire in southern Lebanon.
"It is hereby announced that the Strait of Hormuz will be closed to vessel traffic," the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said in a statement carried by Iranian state television.
"It is noted that this first step is a response to the enemy's breach of promise, and if the aggression continues, further steps will be planned and taken to force the enemy to comply with its obligations," the Iranian media reported.
According to Tasnim News Agency, the Khatam al-Anbiya headquarters opened its statement by quoting a verse from the Quran's chapter At-Tawbah (9:12): "And if they break their oaths after their treaty and defame your religion, then fight the leaders of disbelief, for indeed, there are no oaths (sacred) to them; perhaps they will cease."
The command said the closure is a response to what it described as the United States' open bad faith and breach of the first article of the war-ending Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), as well as Israel's uninterrupted and continuous violations of the ceasefire in southern Lebanon.
It cited what it called the merciless killing and displacement of hundreds of thousands of people in southern Lebanon and the continued failure of Israeli forces to withdraw from southern Lebanese territory as additional justifications for the move.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy announced Saturday that the Strait of Hormuz is closed to all vessels, citing Israeli actions in Lebanon and what it described as U.S. violations of ceasefire commitments, and warned that approaching ships would face security risks.
"Given the crimes of the Zionist regime in Lebanon and the violation of U.S. commitments to establish a ceasefire, the Strait of Hormuz is closed to all vessels," the IRGC Navy's public relations office said in a statement.
The statement emphasized that the closure applies to all maritime traffic.
"The Strait of Hormuz is closed, and vessels should not approach the Strait of Hormuz; otherwise, their security will be at risk," the IRGC Navy said.
Separately, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei criticized what he described as a verbal and insulting attack by Israel's representative against the United Nations Secretary-General's representative for Children and Armed Conflict, in a post on X accompanied by a video clip of the exchange.
"This shameful exhibition of arrogant defiance — against reason, law, morality, and justice — is yet another inevitable result of the absolute impunity bestowed upon an apartheid terrorist regime by its enablers," Baghaei wrote.
"This regime continues its genocidal campaign against the Palestinian people and throughout the region with utter disregard for all civilized norms," he added.
"It is long past time for the world to rise and confront this grave, unprecedented threat to peace and humanity," the Iranian official concluded.
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