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BEIRUT: US President Donald Trump and Iran’s foreign minister said Friday that the Strait of Hormuz is now fully open to commercial vessels, as a 10-day truce in Lebanon appeared to hold.
The truce offered a pause in fighting between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group and could clear one major obstacle to a deal between Iran and the United States and Israel to end weeks of devastating war. But it remained unclear whether the militant group would recognize a deal it did not play a role in negotiating, and which will leave Israeli troops occupying a stretch of southern Lebanon.
Minutes earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on X that the passage for all commercial vessels through the strait “is declared completely open” in line with the ceasefire in Lebanon. He said it would stay open for the remaining period of the ceasefire.
It was not immediately clear what that meant for the U.S. blockade of the strait.
Meanwhile, in Beirut, barrages of gunshots rang out across the city as residents fired into the air just after midnight to celebrate the beginning of the truce, and displaced families began moving toward southern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs despite warnings by officials not to attempt to return to their homes until it became clear whether the ceasefire would hold.
Trump heralded the deal a “historic day for Lebanon,” even as he expressed confidence that the war with Iran would soon end in a Las Vegas speech.
“I will say the war in Iran is going along swimmingly,” Trump said. “It should be ending pretty soon.”
An end to Israel’s war with Hezbollah was a key demand of Iranian negotiators, who previously accused Israel of breaking the current ceasefire deal with strikes on Lebanon. Israel said that deal did not cover Lebanon.
