SRINAGAR: Tensions across the Middle East intensified on Saturday as Iran said the Strait of Hormuz remained under its control, the United Arab Emirates accused Tehran of attacking an ADNOC-linked vessel, and Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon killed at least 11 people and injured 19 others.
Iran’s position came after US President Donald Trump threatened to declare the strategically important waterway a US territory “pretty soon”. Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said the blockade of the strait would continue until the United States accepts defeat.
Iranian officials rejected the US threat, with the country’s judiciary chief saying the Strait of Hormuz belongs to Iran. Gharibabadi said the waterway could not be seized “either by a tweet or an aircraft”, while an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson blamed US military movements for the current security situation around the strait.
The latest tensions followed an attack on a vessel affiliated with Abu Dhabi’s state-owned oil company ADNOC while it was transiting the Strait of Hormuz on Friday.
The United Arab Emirates condemned the incident and accused Iran of carrying out the attack. ADNOC said no injuries were reported and the situation was under control, according to the UAE’s state-run WAM news agency.
The UAE Foreign Ministry described attacks on commercial shipping and the use of the strait for economic coercion as acts of piracy by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps and called for the “complete and unconditional reopening” of the waterway.
The incident followed attacks on two other ADNOC vessels transiting the strait on Thursday evening, according to UAE media.
The Strait of Hormuz has remained at the centre of the wider conflict, with shipping severely disrupted since the war involving Iran began on February 28 following US and Israeli strikes on Iran.
Meanwhile, Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon killed at least 11 people and wounded 19 others, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Health.
The attacks were among the deadliest since Israel and Lebanon announced a framework deal in June under which Israeli forces were to withdraw from southern Lebanon in exchange for the disarmament of Iran-backed Hezbollah.
An early morning attack in Deir ez-Zahrani in Nabatieh district killed four people and wounded 17, including women and children, the ministry said. Another Israeli strike on a house on the outskirts of Ansar killed seven people, including three children, and wounded two others.
The death toll in Deir ez-Zahrani had earlier stood at two before rescue teams recovered another body from the rubble and a separate search party found another casualty, Lebanese Civil Defence said.
The latest strikes have been described as some of the worst attacks in southern Lebanon since the truce was agreed in June.
Hezbollah condemned the attacks as an “act of aggressive escalation”, accusing Israel of targeting civilians and expanding the areas under attack.
In a statement, Hezbollah said Israel had targeted a house near Ansar and a building in Deir al-Zahrani. The group also alleged that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was seeking to escalate the conflict for domestic political and electoral reasons.
Hezbollah also criticised the Lebanese authorities, urging them to focus on stopping Israeli attacks rather than pursuing direct negotiations.
Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri described the strikes on Ansar and Deir ez-Zahrani as a “massacre” and accused Israel of continuing what he called a war of extermination in southern Lebanon.
Berri also said Israel was ignoring ceasefire agreements, international law and diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the conflict.
In another development, Iran’s Intelligence Ministry accused two French diplomats of involvement in what it described as an “infiltration and interference” operation inside the country.
According to a statement carried by Iran’s state-run IRNA, the diplomats were allegedly discovered at a secret meeting place while authorities were investigating two other suspects.
Iranian officials claimed documents seized during the investigation pointed to efforts to identify individuals, establish covert contacts and build networks inside and outside the country. The claims have not been independently verified and Iranian authorities did not provide evidence establishing the alleged operation.
The latest developments come amid continuing uncertainty over a possible return to talks between Iran and the United States, while tensions around the Strait of Hormuz and Israel’s military operations in Lebanon remain high.
