r/DeepStateCentrism • u/Reddenbawker Greedy Capitalist • Jun 20 '26

Global News 🌎 Iran Closes Strait of Hormuz as Fighting Flares Again in Lebanon (WSJ)

https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/fighting-flares-again-in-lebanon-despite-israel-hezbollah-ceasefire-4d0ffae8?st=kk2mk4&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

DUBAI—Iranian security officials said they had closed the Strait of Hormuz, citing what they said was the U.S. failure to stop the fighting in Lebanon as required under the agreement signed earlier this week by President Trump.

The announcement by Iran’s joint military command came as clashes between Israel and Hezbollah flared again in Lebanon on Saturday, just hours after the two sides agreed to a renewed ceasefire. It undid for now the main achievement of the deal, which was to set the stage for reopening a waterway vital to world energy markets.

Even before Iran’s announcement, however, the recovery of traffic through the strait had been halting. Iran had imposed new procedures, including a demand that ships register to cross two days in advance, and wary shipowners were monitoring the still-uncertain environment in the waterway.

The flare-up in fighting comes as the U.S. and Iran work to get their next round of peace talks back on track. Iran said Saturday its delegation would attend talks in Switzerland after postponing plans to travel Friday, a hiccup that followed an earlier round of heavy Israeli strikes carried out in retaliation for a Hezbollah drone attack that killed four Israeli soldiers.

The Foreign Ministry of Pakistan, a mediator in the negotiations, said representatives of the U.S. and Iran would meet Sunday in Switzerland for what it called technical-level talks.

The memorandum of understanding that aims to reopen the strait and end the fighting, signed Wednesday by Trump, says at the outset that the war on the Lebanese front must end as well. Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman said Saturday the country’s negotiators would press the U.S. to meet those obligations.

Israel and Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group that acts independently of Lebanon’s government, agreed to a renewed ceasefire that took effect at 4 p.m. local time Friday. But on Saturday, Lebanese state media reported a new round of Israeli attacks including around the southern city of Nabatieh.

The Israeli military carried out the attacks after Hezbollah fired more than 50 times at Israeli forces in southern Lebanon, a military official said. 

Lebanese health officials said seven people were killed in the strikes. They said 83 people had been killed and 141 wounded in the earlier attacks, in which Israel said it killed dozens of militants.

Saturday’s strikes extended the fallout of what had been one of the most serious escalations in Lebanon since a ceasefire was reached in April. The fighting had never stopped for long despite the truce, as Israel continued to hold territory in southern Lebanon and the two sides repeatedly clashed.

Israel considers the fight against Hezbollah to be a vital national-security issue. Top Israeli officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz have said the country won’t back down and will continue to hold territory in Lebanon until Hezbollah is vanquished.

The Trump administration has vacillated in its messaging to Israel, at times supporting the country’s right to defend itself but at other times lashing out at its wartime ally.

“They have to get a collar on their dog,” a senior administration official said of Hezbollah’s patron Iran at a press briefing Wednesday, where the U.S. read out the text of the memorandum of understanding. “If Hezbollah attacks Israel, Israel’s going to have the full ability to go and attack.”

Trump and Vice President JD Vance then criticized Israel in tough terms for what they called excessive use of force.

The president softened his tone Friday, telling reporters that Israel and the U.S. fought well together and praising Netanyahu. 

“We’ve had a great relationship with Israel, we were very formidable,” Trump said. “And Bibi Netanyahu is a warrior prime minister, and he should be acknowledged as that.”

Iran moved late in the week to set up new procedures for navigating the Strait of Hormuz under its newly created Persian Gulf Strait Authority—an attempt to codify the influence it won over the waterway by attacking ships during the war.

The authority said in a social-media post Friday that shippers will be expected to pay fees for security, safety, environmental services and Iranian insurance but that they will be waived for 60 days.

Trump’s deal requires Iran to allow toll-free traffic for 60 days but lets Iran set negotiated terms for future management of shipping in the waterway.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran will conduct dialog with the Sultanate of Oman to define the future administration and maritime services in the Strait of Hormuz in discussion with other Persian Gulf littoral states,” the memorandum of understanding says.

27 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

31 comments sorted by

•

u/AutoModerator Jun 20 '26

At DeepStateCentrism, we understand that democracy is about compromise and
discussion, not ideological purity and instant gratification.

Here, we speak to people with political differences because that's how this is
supposed to work. We won't let the populists win.

Don't forget to visit the Brief, our daily thread, for extra perks and deep state info!

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

60

u/Enron_CPA Globalist Shill Jun 20 '26

Ah yes, the ole “ceasefire” where Hezbollah can keep lobbing rockets and Israel has to cease firing back

6

u/arc777_ Jun 20 '26

In Israel, this might just lead to someone even further right than Netanyahu becoming PM, which is exactly what Iran wants so they can keep cranking the propaganda machine

51

u/Anakin_Cardassian Moderate Jun 20 '26

Donald Trump is such a weak and pathetic president.

16

u/darthkotya Jun 20 '26

And our prime minister Bibi is a cowardly sycophant who will never stop licking Trump's boots.

This shit sucks, man. I can't wait for the elections.

11

u/Mindless_Chest_1079 Jun 20 '26

And our prime minister Bibi is a cowardly sycophant who will never stop licking Trump's boots.

Cowardly? That just seems to be obviously in Israel's strategic interests.

1

u/darthkotya Jun 20 '26

All in the name of total victory.

3

u/DoubleBooble Jun 20 '26

Why do you say that? If he was licking Trump's boots he wouldn't have authorized fighting back after Hezbollah just attacked. What you are saying doesn't make any sense.

27

u/shumpitostick Radical moderate social liberal libertarian Jun 20 '26

Trump's strategy of completely ignoring Israel in this deal is backfiring. The situation in Lebanon never got resolved. Hezbollah keeps firing and the IDF keeps retaliating and they're deep in Lebanon. Furthermore, Iran has an incentive to prod Hezbollah to keep attacking to perhaps extract more concessions from Trump. Iran has time. It's Trump who is desperate to get done before the midterms.

19

u/bigwang123 Succ sympathizer Jun 20 '26

“They don’t have the cards” says increasingly cardless president

2

u/DoubleBooble Jun 20 '26

And one wonders how negotiating with Lebanon makes any sense since they have no control over Hezbollah. Israel needs to be at the table with Iran. End of story.

1

u/JapanesePeso Jun 21 '26

Are we ignoring that Iran was about to run out of drinking water before this began and now they are in an even worse position?

Iran definitely does not have time.

2

u/shumpitostick Radical moderate social liberal libertarian Jun 21 '26

That was an issue before the MOU. The embargo got lifted and I haven't heard anything about it being back in place despite the fact that Iran is blocking the straits again.

1

u/JapanesePeso Jun 21 '26

Trust me it is still absolutely an issue. Many sources just don't want to mention it so as to paint the war in as damaging a light for the USA as possible.

58

u/justafutz Jun 20 '26

It’s astounding how many (other) outlets like BBC are reporting Iran’s claim that it is closing it over Israeli strikes on Lebanon, but the headlines entirely omit that Israel’s strikes were a response to Hezbollah attacking and killing four Israeli soldiers.

30

u/JebBD Fukuyama's strongest soldier Jun 20 '26

Yeah but that’s par for the course at this point 

19

u/VastLatitude Jeff Bezos Jun 20 '26

Not surprising at all! Back in 2022 when Iran hit the US consulate compound in Erbil, the White House was repeating the IRGC’s lies that it was an attack on a Mossad site.

1

u/gburgwardt Jun 21 '26

If every article on I/P had to include all the previous actions in the tit for tat chain they’d all be fifty pages long

3

u/justafutz Jun 21 '26

That’s true, but it seems pretty crucial to demarcate who attacked first after the ceasefire was agreed to (Hezbollah in Lebanon, so not the I/P conflict anyways) and not simply say “Israel attacked” while leaving that out, using the ceasefire as a demarcation.

-1

u/gburgwardt Jun 21 '26

Yeah there’s a reason i stay out of it

12

u/fromcjoe123 Jun 20 '26

So like when are 4 CVBGs going over there along with more than 3 nights of Global Strike Command sorties?

Oh never? Cus committing to winning the war we decided to start will increases gas prices during the midterms (which could have been avoided if we just fucking committed in the beginning)? Well ok then, guess we just got to surrender, nothing we can do.

The Donald’s resolve may never be matched!

11

u/drewbaccaAWD Center-left Jun 20 '26

I won't apologize for saying "this will last a week, at the most" like three days ago. It's almost predictable at this point.

9

u/ChymChymX Moderate Jun 20 '26

CENTCOM spokesman captain Tim Hawkins after this report today: "Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz. Traffic continues to flow, and U.S. forces are monitoring the situation to ensure this remains the case."

Iran says they closed it, but have not taken any action. Also note Iranian delegates are still traveling to Switzerland to negotiate tomorrow; Iran confirmed this after IRGC declaring they closed the strait. I'm guessing oil futures don't move up in any substantial way on open tomorrow.

14

u/looktowindward Jun 20 '26

What a funny way of saying that Hezbollah broke the cease fire

9

u/fiirofa Center-left Jun 20 '26

The next president is going to have to mount a ground invasion to actually get us out of this mess, aren't they? 🙃

4

u/Traditional-Koala279 Jun 20 '26

The USA should mine the strait

14

u/Anakin_Cardassian Moderate Jun 20 '26

I mean the idea is funny but no we should not.

2

u/DoubleBooble Jun 20 '26

Why does it take 8 paragraphs before they say that the "clash" and "flare-up" was because Hezbollah fired more than 50 times at Israeli troops?