Welcome to our live coverage of the US and Israel’s war on Iran.
The Strait of Hormuz has reopened. Kind of.
On Friday, local time, Tehran announced it would stop its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, the vital waterway through which a good chunk of the world’s oil and gas flows.
But the government said would stop impeding vessels for the remainder of the ceasefire, which is due to end in just days.
Iran’s foreign minister added the move was due to Israel stopping its bombardment of Lebanon- at least for the time being.
Donald Trump said “thank you” to Iran for its gesture. But, in news that won’t please Tehran, he said the US’ own blockade on vessels to and from Iran will continue while peace talks take place. They won’t please China which gets a lot of its oil from Iran.
Meanwhile, the US president has taken an unusual stance on Israel and announced they are “prohibited by the USA” from further strikes on Lebanon, warning “enough is enough”.
“Israel will not be bombing Lebanon any longer,” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social, the day after Israel and Lebanon agreed to a 10-day ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah conflict.
The US cannot “prohibit” another nation from hitting a third nation. There’s no doubt m however, it has some leverage over Israel. But Israel has not always taken kindly to being told what to do.
Read on for more updates.
