Semiofficial news agencies in Iran published a chart Thursday suggesting the country's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard put sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz during the war, as uncertainty hangs over a two-week ceasefire and further negotiations are expected in Pakistan.
The shaky ceasefire has been largely holding between the U.S., Israel and Iran, although Tehran and Washington have offered vastly different explanations of the initial terms.
Israel insists the agreement does not apply to their war against Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon and have escalated deadly strikes there, leading Iran to claim it is violating the deal. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres "unequivocally" condemned Israeli strikes in Lebanon that killed and injured hundreds on Wednesday after the ceasefire was announced.
Sirens sounded in northern Israel early Thursday as Hezbollah claimed it was attacking with rocket fire.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump said on social media that his surge of warships and troops will remain around Iran "until such time as the REAL AGREEMENT reached is fully complied with." He also insisted Iran would not be able to build nuclear weapons and "the Strait of Hormuz WILL BE OPEN & SAFE."
Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz again on Wednesday in response to Israeli attacks against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
- Iran, the United States and Israel agreed to a two-week ceasefire on Tuesday, an 11th-hour deal that headed off U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to unleash a bombing campaign that would destroy Iranian civilization. Hours after the announcement, Iran and Gulf Arab countries reported new attacks Wednesday, though it was not clear if the strikes would scuttle the deal.
All sides have presented vastly different versions of the terms. Iran said the deal would allow it to formalize its new practice of charging ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Trump said the U.S. would work with Iran to remove buried enriched uranium, though Iran did not confirm that.
Pakistan and others said fighting would pause in Lebanon, which Israel has invaded to fight Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said early Wednesday that the deal doesn't cover fighting against Hezbollah. Israeli strikes hit several dense commercial and residential areas in central Beirut Wednesday afternoon without warning, killing dozens and wounding hundreds of people .
Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz again Wednesday in response to Israeli attacks against the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon.
The ceasefire may formalize a system of charging fees in the Strait of Hormuz that Iran instituted - and give it a new source of revenue. Iranian attacks and threats deterred many commercial ships from passing through the waterway, through which 20% of all traded oil and natural gas passes in peacetime.