Iran closes Strait of Hormuz again as 16 killed in fresh Israeli strikes in Lebanon

4 min readUpdated: Jun 20, 2026 08:20 PM IST

People gather at the site of a destroyed building that was hit in an Israeli airstrike in Qannarit village, southern Lebanon, Saturday, June 20. (AP Photo)

Iran’s top joint military command on Saturday announced the closure of the Strait of Hormuz once again, accusing the United States of violating commitments under the recently signed US-Iran memorandum of understanding and citing continued Israeli military operations in southern Lebanon.

In a statement carried by Iranian state television, the military command said the closure was in response to Washington’s “clear breach of trust” and failure to implement the first clause of the agreement, as well as Israel’s alleged violations of a ceasefire in Lebanon, news agency Associated Press reported.

The statement described the closure as a “first step” and warned that “if the aggression continues, subsequent steps have been planned.”

Separately, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) warned vessels against approaching the Strait of Hormuz, saying their security could be at risk, according to statements carried by Iranian media.

Lebanon violence threatens fragile US-Iran deal

The announcement came as attacks intensified in southern Lebanon despite reports of a ceasefire. Israeli strikes on Saturday killed at least 16 people, including two children, while Hezbollah accused Israel of repeatedly violating the truce, the AP report added.

Israel, meanwhile, said Hezbollah had launched more than 50 projectiles overnight, prompting strikes on what it described as militant targets.

The scale of the violence remains significant, with Lebanon’s health ministry saying the death toll from the latest Israel-Hezbollah conflict has surpassed 4,000, according to AP.

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The move threatens to derail the fragile diplomatic breakthrough reached earlier this week, under which Iran and the United States agreed to end months of conflict and reopen the strategic waterway, according to the report.

Hormuz was opened as part of deal

The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world’s most critical energy chokepoints, carrying roughly a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments. The waterway had only reopened earlier this week after the US-Iran agreement, allowing commercial traffic to resume following months of disruption.

However, the continued violence has emerged as a major point of contention in the US-Iran agreement. Iran has maintained that a lasting end to hostilities in Lebanon and an Israeli withdrawal from occupied areas are essential conditions for the success of the deal.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has previously said the United States bears responsibility for ensuring an end to military operations “on all fronts, including Lebanon”, under the terms of the memorandum.

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Israel, however, has said it is not a party to the agreement and has vowed to maintain military operations until threats from Hezbollah are eliminated.

Earlier in the day, US Vice President JD Vance said there was “no evidence” that Iran was preparing to shut the Strait of Hormuz.

Switzerland talks in doubt

Iran also signalled that its negotiating team was heading to Switzerland, but Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei suggested progress would be limited unless Washington first fulfilled its commitments under the memorandum. He said formal negotiations towards a final agreement could be jeopardised if key obligations were not met, AP reported.

Meanwhile, Vance has also said he expects to travel to Switzerland for talks with Iran “in the next couple of days”, Al Jazeera reported.

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This signals that Washington still hopes to move forward with negotiations, however the latest development raises fresh uncertainty over planned follow-up negotiations in Switzerland aimed at turning the interim agreement into a broader settlement covering Iran’s nuclear programme and sanctions relief.

The talks are expected to focus on implementing the memorandum of understanding signed earlier this week, which launched a 60-day process to negotiate a broader agreement covering Iran’s nuclear programme, sanctions relief and regional security arrangements. However, planned negotiations were already delayed after Iranian officials insisted that fighting in Lebanon must stop before formal discussions could proceed.

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Iran-Israel War

Strait of Hormuz