Iran halts talks with US, says it will close Bab el-Mandeb Strait: Report

Iran has suspended all exchanges with mediators to end the war with the US as a result of Israel’s escalating attacks on Lebanon, the Tasnim news agency reported on Monday.

"Given the continuing crimes of the Zionist regime (Israel) in Lebanon and considering that Lebanon was one of the preconditions for the ceasefire and that this ceasefire has now been violated on all fronts, including Lebanon, the Iranian negotiating team is suspending dialogues and exchange of texts through mediators," Tasnim reported.

Tasnim said that Iran wants an "immediate cessation" of Israel's military operations in Gaza and Lebanon.

Tasnim, which is close to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said that Iran and its allies had "set their determination to completely block the Strait of Hormuz and activate other fronts, including the Bab el-Mandeb Strait" at the entrance to the Red Sea.

Iran’s threat to blockade the Bab el-Mandeb Strait would mark an escalation in its steps to inflict pain on the global economy in order to force the US into concessions.

Oil prices, which have been trending down the last month on expectations of a deal, shot higher on Monday.

Brent, the international benchmark, was up 6.7 percent, trading at $97.28 per barrel.

The report comes after US Central Command said it launched fresh strikes on Iran over the weekend, with Kuwait saying it faced missile and drone strikes targeting US forces inside the country in retaliation.

The fragile ceasefire the two sides struck in April has been on life-support for weeks.

US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he was prepared to lift his blockade of the Strait of Hormuz if Iran surrendered its enriched uranium and committed not to charge a toll in Hormuz. Iran rejected those terms.

Israel has escalated its attacks on Lebanon in recent weeks. The Mediterranean country has become a flashpoint in talks between the US and Iran.

Middle East Eye reported in April that Saudi Arabia pushed the US to prioritise securing a ceasefire in Lebanon to sustain talks with Iran, which eventually led to the truce.

Although a ceasefire was announced, Israel has continued to attack its northern neighbour and push deeper into the country. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said that Israel would seize a greater swath of the Gaza Strip in violation of a ceasefire that the US brokered in October.

The Houthis, who are aligned with Iran, attacked vessels in the Hormuz waterway after the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023 and the subsequent Israeli war on the enclave, in what they said was sympathy with besieged Palestinians in Gaza.

Ansar Allah, the Houthi administration, however, operates independently from Iran and has been reluctant to enter the US-Israeli war on Iran.

The Red Sea has become the main outlet for Saudi Arabia’s oil exports via its East-West pipeline, which runs from the Gulf to the Red Sea port of Yanbu.