Iran-US war latest: Tehran declares Strait of Hormuz is closed after Trump deal due to ‘ceasefire violations’

The US military has denied Iran’s claims that it had closed the Strait of Hormuz, saying the critical waterway remained open.

⁠US Central Command spokesperson ‌Navy Captain Tim Hawkins told the news agency Reuters that US forces were “monitoring the situation” to ensure that ships could pass.

He said: “Traffic continues to ‌flow, and US forces are monitoring the situation to ensure this remains the ⁠case.”

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps declared the Strait of Hormuz shut earlier on Saturday and warned ships not to approach the waterway, ‌casting new doubt ​on the future ‌of a ceasefire agreement ⁠between the US ⁠and Iran meant to pave ‌the way ​for in-depth peace ‌talks.

Nearly four months after the U.S. started its war with Iran, Donald Trump has signed a long-awaited deal to end the war, restore global shipping and resolve an abiding dispute over Tehran’s nuclear programme.

Details of a 14 point plan were previously released by US officials, with an official signing ceremony expected to take place in Switzerland on Friday. However, it emerged on Wednesday evening that it had already been signed by the US president and his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian.

James C Reynolds reports:

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu will likely try to undermine Donald Trump’s deal with Iran, U.S. intelligence officials have reportedly warned the administration.

Current and former U.S. officials told The Washington Post Netanyahu is intent on continuing operations in Lebanon despite an agreement signed by President Trump earlier this week.

Pakistan’s foreign ministry has said on Saturday that follow-up technical-level talks between Iran and the US will be held in Bürgenstock, Switzerland, on 21 June.

It said US and Iranian representatives would participate, along with mediators from Pakistan and Qatar in order to continue discussions following a ceasefire deal signed this week.

It added in a post on X that Pakistan will continue to facilitate the process in its role as mediator as per previous negotiations.

“Trump vented to others that Vance hadn’t repeated his own new phrase that Iran’s nuclear program had been ‘totally obliterated,’” according to an excerpt obtained by Politico of the forthcoming Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump, from New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan.

Israeli strikes and gunfire killed at least five people, including a child, in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, health officials said.

Four Palestinians, including two women and a child, in an apartment building in Gaza City, were killed in the Israeli attack, health officials said.

The attack on the building in the Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City destroyed the apartment and wounded several other people, medics added.

In another incident, Israeli forces shot and killed a woman in Beit Lahiya town further north, said medics.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on either incident.

An October ceasefire may have halted major fighting between Hamas and Israel, but it has failed to end Israeli attacks.

Gaza’s health ministry said more than 1,010 Palestinians had been killed by Israeli fire since the ceasefire. Four Israeli soldiers were killed by militants in Gaza over the same period.

We can bring you more on Iran’s claims that it will close the Strait of Hormuz.

The Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said the closure comes in response to the “explicit breach of the first clause of the post-war memorandum of understanding by the United States”.

It said it is also due to Israel’s “continuous and ongoing violations of the ceasefire in southern Lebanon”.

Here’s a reminder of what the first clause of the US-Iran MoU stipulated:

We’ve just heard from US vice president JD Vance, who has responded to Iranian claims that they will close the Strait of Hormuz.

There is no evidence that such a closure is being carried out, Vance tells Fox News.

Tehran says it is closing the strait due to alleged violations of a ceasefire agreement agreed earlier this week.