The White House has demanded that Iran immediately reopen the Strait of Hormuz following claims that Tehran had closed the vital maritime route amid Israel's air strikes on Lebanon.
The White House said on Wednesday that Iran has agreed to reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz, and reported an increase in maritime traffic through the vital waterway amid efforts to stabilise tensions in the Middle East.
According to the White House, President Donald Trump expects the strait to remain open, and stressed that Tehran will be held accountable if it fails to ensure continued access for international shipping.
The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow passage linking the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman, is one of the world’s most vital shipping lanes, with nearly 20 % of global oil and natural gas passing through it. Any disruption to traffic can have immediate implications for global energy markets.
Just hours earlier, Iranian state media reported that Tehran had closed the strait in response to Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon, raising fears the already fragile ceasefire with the United States — agreed just days earlier — was unraveling. According to those reports, Iran positioned the closure as retaliation against strikes that it views as violations of the ceasefire terms.
Israeli strikes intensified in Lebanon, hitting multiple commercial and residential areas in Beirut without warning. Lebanon’s health authorities reported at least 112 deaths and hundreds more wounded in one of the deadliest days of the latest Israel-Hezbollah war.
“The world is witnessing massacres in Lebanon,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X. “The ball is in the U.S. court, and the world is watching whether it will act on its commitments.”
Iranian officials linked the attacks on Lebanon to its own security concerns.
"Aggression towards Lebanon is aggression towards Iran," Gen. Seyed Majid Mousavi, aerospace commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, said on X, warning that Iranian forces were preparing a “heavy response” without providing further details.
Iran also accused the United States of violating three clauses of its framework for the ceasefire, citing concerns over ongoing hostilities and Iran’s security rights.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Trump insisted that the truce with Iran does not extend to Lebanon. Netanyahu emphasized that Israel would continue targeting Hezbollah.
