With the two-week U.S.-Iran ceasefire set to expire on Wednesday, Tehran and Hezbollah are already violating the truce with renewed attacks.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) opened fire on two Indian-owned ships early Saturday, including an oil supertanker, a move aimed at threatening global energy supplies. “Two Indian-flagged vessels were fired at by Iranian gunboats in the Strait of Hormuz today,” India’s NDTV reported. “One of the two vessels involved in the incident is a very large crude carrier (VLCC), a classification given to tankers that are massive in size and designed for long-haul crude transport.”
In a blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement, Iran is trying to wrestle control of the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting 20 percent of global oil and gas exports. “Iran’s security council says it is “determined” to control the Strait,” the BBC reported Saturday.
President Donald Trump noted Iran’s latest violations, saying the regime “got a little cute, as they have been doing for 47 years.” Following six weeks of joint U.S.-Israeli military operations, Tehran had no naval force left to “blackmail” the world, he said.
“They have no navy, they have no air force, they have no leaders. They have, no, nothing,” President Trump told reporters on Saturday. “They wanted to close up the strait again, as they’ve been doing for years, but they can’t blackmail us.”
The Telegraph (UK) covered the latest Iranian naval attacks:
Iranian gun boats attacked at least two cargo ships in the Strait of Hormuz after Tehran reimposed restrictions on the waterway in response to the continued US blockade of its ports.Troops on two Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) vessels opened fire on the ships 20 nautical miles north-east of Oman, without warning sailors, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre. It said one of the tankers was struck, but no injuries were reported from either crew.A US security official told Axios that the IRGC had also attacked a third commercial ship in the waterway since reimposing restrictions.
Less than three days into a 10-day ceasefire, the Iranian terror proxy Hezbollah breached the agreement by resuming hostilities against Israel.
President Trump, on Thursday, announced a temporary truce, pausing a 45-day armed conflict that erupted after Hezbollah attacked Israel on behalf of Iran.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF), which currently holds a security buffer zone inside southern Lebanon, cited multiple ceasefire violations by Hezbollah. “Since the ceasefire came into effect, IDF soldiers south of the Yellow Line in southern Lebanon have identified in several incidents in which terrorists violated the ceasefire understandings by approaching from north of the Yellow Line toward IDF soldiers, posing an immediate threat,” the Israeli military said in a statement on Saturday.
The IDF undertook swift countermeasures to remove the terrorist threat along Israel’s northern border.
“Following their identification, and in order to remove the threat, the Israeli Air Force, together with ground forces, conducted precise strikes against the terrorists,” the IDF continued. “Artillery fire was carried out in support of the ground troops operating in the area, and terrorist infrastructure sites used to facilitate attacks were struck in response to the threats.”
Around 80,000 people were forced to flee their homes in northern Israel after Hezbollah, on October 8, 2023, began firing missiles, rockets, and drones across the border.
While President Trump, on Friday, “prohibited” Israel from carrying out strikes in Lebanon, the U.S.-brokered ceasefire recognizes the country’s “right to take all necessary measures in self-defence, at any time, against planned, imminent, or ongoing attacks.”
With its retaliatory actions, the IDF was acting within the parameters of the ceasefire deal. The military assured that “[a]ctions taken in self-defense and to remove immediate threats are not restricted by the ceasefire.” The IDF troops securing the border were “authorized to take the necessary measures in self-defense against threats, while ensuring the security of Israeli civilians and the soldiers deployed in the area,” it added.
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