ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iran has halted communications through mediators with the US and moved to “completely” blockade the Strait of Hormuz in protest of Israel’s “brutal” operations in Gaza and Lebanon, semi-official media reported on Monday.

Tehran has halted “talks and exchange of texts through intermediaries” with the US, while coordinating with its “resistance” allies to also “activate” Yemen’s Bab al-Mandab, in addition to the blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, in a bid to “punish” Israel and its supporters, said Tasnim news agency, affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz issued a joint statement earlier on Monday, saying they have instructed the military to strike suspected targets in Beirut’s southern suburbs.

The Israeli statement cited alleged “repeated violations of the ceasefire in Lebanon by Hezbollah and the attacks against our cities and citizens” as the pretext of the renewed aggression. 

The hostilities present yet another episode of tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, as a fragile US-brokered ceasefire in mid-April has failed to keep the conflict at bay. 

Tasnim said that Lebanon was “among the preconditions for the ceasefire,” noting that the ceasefire had now been “violated on all fronts.” 

Earlier on Monday, Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said in a press conference that “Lebanon is an integral part of any ceasefire and any final agreement to end the war.” 

““It is not only the Zionist regime [Israel] that violates the ceasefire; the United States also violates the ceasefire in our region in this widespread manner; In addition, there is the continuation of maritime piracy and attacks on Iranian commercial shipping, which is both a violation of the ceasefire and an example of an act of aggression against Iran,” Baghaei told reporters.

The Israeli aggression comes as US-Iran negotiations had seemingly gained momentum in recent weeks. US President Donald Trump’s said in late May that an agreement was “largely negotiated” with the Iranian side and awaited finalization, following a series of indirect negotiations through Pakistani mediators.