Iran Says It's Halting Passage Through Strait Of Hormuz Due To Israeli Attacks In Lebanon And Is 'Working On Its Response'

Iran said it's halting passage through the Strait of Hormuz as a result of Israeli attacks in Lebanon, as the announced ceasefire with the U.S. continues to be under pressure.

Iranian semi-official news agency Fars made the announcement, which follow what Israel described as the largest strikes on the country since the beginning of the latest round of hostilities between the country and Hezbollah.

Tehran also said it is "working on its response" to the attacks, which it said are aimed at becoming "deterrent operations against Israeli military positions in the occupied territories."

Citing an Iranian source, CNN detailed the renewed attacks show that the U.S. "cannot control" Israel or it "granted freedom of action to the Zionist regime."

There have been conflicting accounts about whether the fighting in Lebanon was included in the ceasefire announcement. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said it did, but Israel and Trump claimed it didn't. "That's a separate skirmish," Trump told PBS News.

Israel defended its actions, with the Foreign Ministry saying that "Lebanon's president and prime minister have no shame in attacking Israel for doing what they should have done: striking Hezbollah."

"They did not disarm Hezbollah. They did not and do not prevent it from firing on Israel. They lied when they claimed they had demilitarized the area up to the Litani. Now we must do it instead of them."

The Wall Street Journal also reported that Tehran told regional mediators that officials' participation in talks with the U.S. in Pakistan is conditional on a ceasefire in Lebanon. They added that Iran will continue attacking other countries in the region as long as Israel continues taking on Hezbollah.

In fact, a key Saudi pipeline taking oil to the Red Sea was hit by a drone attack on Wednesday. Reuters detailed that the East-West pipeline was the country's only wait to export crude following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz as a result of the war.

Concretely, it was diverting about 7 million barrels a day to the port of Yanbu. Flows are now expected to be affected, the outlet noted, citing a source familiar with the development. Damage is still being assessed.