Renewed clashes come as diplomats to join next round of U.S.-Iran peace talks.
Strait Closed Again
The Wall Street Journal reports Iran Closes Strait of Hormuz as Fighting Flares Again in Lebanon
Iranian security officials said they had closed the Strait of Hormuz, citing what they said was the U.S. failure to stop the fighting in Lebanon as required under the agreement signed earlier this week by President Trump.
The announcement by Iran’s joint military command came as clashes between Israel and Hezbollah flared again in Lebanon on Saturday, just hours after the two sides agreed to a renewed ceasefire. It undid for now the main achievement of the deal, which was to set the stage for reopening a waterway vital to world energy markets.
Even before Iran’s announcement, however, the recovery of traffic through the strait had been halting. Iran had imposed new procedures, including a demand that ships register to cross two days in advance, and wary shipowners were monitoring the still-uncertain environment in the waterway.
The flare-up in fighting comes as the U.S. and Iran work to get their next round of peace talks back on track. Iran said Saturday its delegation would attend talks in Switzerland after postponing plans to travel Friday, a hiccup that followed an earlier round of heavy Israeli strikes carried out in retaliation for a Hezbollah drone attack that killed four Israeli soldiers.
The Foreign Ministry of Pakistan, a mediator in the negotiations, said representatives of the U.S. and Iran would meet Sunday in Switzerland for what it called technical-level talks.
Israel and Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group that acts independently of Lebanon’s government, agreed to a renewed ceasefire that took effect at 4 p.m. local time Friday. But on Saturday, Lebanese state media reported a new round of Israeli attacks including around the southern city of Nabatieh.
The Israeli military carried out the attacks after Hezbollah fired more than 50 times at Israeli forces in southern Lebanon, a military official said.
Lebanese health officials said seven people were killed in the strikes. They said 83 people had been killed and 141 wounded in the earlier attacks, in which Israel said it killed dozens of militants.
Saturday’s strikes extended the fallout of what had been one of the most serious escalations in Lebanon since a ceasefire was reached in April. The fighting had never stopped for long despite the truce, as Israel continued to hold territory in southern Lebanon and the two sides repeatedly clashed.
Trump and Vice President JD Vance then criticized Israel in tough terms for what they called excessive use of force.
The president softened his tone Friday, telling reporters that Israel and the U.S. fought well together and praising Netanyahu.
“We’ve had a great relationship with Israel, we were very formidable,” Trump said. “And Bibi Netanyahu is a warrior prime minister, and he should be acknowledged as that.”
Inconsistent Message
Trump provides an inconsistent message. Israel is sure to notice and did.
Until Trump tells Israel in no uncertain terms that it will neither defend Israel nor give Israel any weapons or military support, Israel will not cease and desist in Lebanon.
Yet, it is hard to bind third parties to deals they did not sign.
Separately, Israel, Lebanon, and Hezbollah need their own deal, independent of Iran’s deal with Trump. However, that’s the last thing Netanyahu wants.
The only realistic way to force that setup is for the US to threaten to halt all aid and protection of Israel, then hope Netanyahu loses the next election to more moderate forces.
Israel Elections
Legislative elections are scheduled to be held in Israel by October 27, 2026 to elect the 120 members of the twenty-sixth Knesset.
However, the elections could be held earlier, as 106 members of the twenty-fifth Knesset have supported a bill proposing earlier elections.
I hope Netanyahu is outed, then thrown into prison where he belongs for war crimes. But that’s not why he may finally end up in prison.
Netanyahu currently faces charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust according to Honest Reporting.
The problem is No Israeli prime minister has ever been indicted while in office much less stand trial.
Talks Still On
Meanwhile, the talks are still ongoing despite this flareup.
That’s a good sign. And pressuring Trump is a good move by Iran.
Also see my post yesterday Ceasefire Broken but Back On, Vance-Iran Meeting Called Off, Now What?
The agreement did not even last a day. It’s fundamentally flawed.
The fundamentally flawed deal is to the advantage of Iran, and Iran is using that advantage well.
EVERYONE, CONTROL YOUR SYCOPHANTS!!
It is like every alliance cannot contain its members~ The US cannot contain Israel’s (over the top) aggression. The GCC cannot control Iran. And so on down the food chains. Alliances and control are fracturing due to competing, and unaligned, interests.
Trump drove the US into a cesspool of toxic unaligned and uncontrollable interests.
There is probably a bit of capitulators remorse on the part of the Trump regime so a good move by Iran to keep the pressure ratcheted up. Israel continues to be a rogue nation in all this. Maybe sanctions would help.
if Trump is to be believed and there is only 4 weeks of oil left the world should be nervous as it will take time to get the oil into the system.
I hate to say this, but if Iran continues on with these talks while Lebanon gets attacked we shouldn’t think it’s just Trump who is desperate for a deal.
Also I’m of the belief that you could cut Israel off but at this point the threat of Iran is too great (in the eyes of Israel) for it to matter. This situation has transcended logic and beats on a more ancient and mostly forgotten part of the human brain in which modernity demands its suppression; revenge.
Thus in my opinion it be the last thing we’d want president Trump to do, abandon Israel. I do suggest that if he’s willing to give concessions to Iran to stop he should apply the same logic to Israel.
Taking away leaves a vacuum, giving something allows choice. And if there’s one thing that’s being communicated right now is that Israel will act on its sovereignty and free will to choose. Leaving a vacuum where resentment, fear, and revenge sits only means more war.
That said given the statements from current Israeli leaders giving carrots to Israel probably wont work.
The devil will get his due one way or another.
Tick, tock
It’s a fatally flawed agreement
The behavior of a non-signatory is written as a condition of satisfying the agreement.
Not sure how the dummies (dumbies?) from DC wouldn’t see this–can NYC real-estate “geniuses” be this stupid? I guess, yes.
The clock of energy consequences still ticks down
What further concessions will Iran squeeze from the US to shake this poison pill?
Tick, tock
off topic but important:
Washington Now Spends $2 for Every $1 it Taxes
While the double spend comment is only for May 2026, the trend is higher deficits that are exacerbated by this foolish war. There are some informative charts in the article.
It also mentions we have been in this situation before, namely after WW2, but to be complete the author should have mentioned the deficits after WW1 and the Spanish Flu pandemic: both were ameliorated via massive spending cuts that led to serious growth.
TrumpCo are NuttyYahoo’s boeeahitches. Just Like Brain-Dead BidenCo.
It was and is a long shot for the USA. Off on the wrong foot from the start. And very expensive to bring under the control it should have always had as an operation. I figure the odds be 50:50 (Frank Z.).
Israel delenda est.
What has been done can not be undone. As Bill said, some things once subject to guessing are now explicit. Iran has long told us what their goals are = “Death to the Little Satan, Death to the Great Satan” and they have escalated the war and fighting against us. It will go on until we are defeated or Iran’s government is gone.
Mish spoke an understatement = “Separately, Israel, Lebanon, and Hezbollah need their own deal, independent of Iran’s deal with Trump. However, that’s the last thing Netanyahu wants.” We know that whoever leads Hezbollah and whoever leads Iran don’t want it either.
Mish also wrote “I hope Netanyahu is outed, then thrown into prison where he belongs for war crimes.” That should be expanded by a few sentences of what acts he has committed that violate the laws of war. Likewise it isn’t hard to find leftists who think that Donald Trump, GW Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and more should be thrown in prison for violating Nuremberg charges, firstmost the 2nd charge = Crimes Against Peace. Leftists were strongly disappointed that B. Obama had not pursued charges against Bush and company.
Netanyahu and the Israeli military have purposely targeted civilian facilities and infrastructure in order to sow terror in the population in both Gaza and Lebanon. Those are war crimes.
And another round of insider trading ensues, skimming a few billion more into their pockets. I was sitting around thinking about what could they all have been promised to act with such negligence, obtuseness, and general seeming stupidity? A deal with the devil? eternal life? Nope. Insider trading tips. These folks are hoping to set themselves above the ravel. Make enough money to become a part of the no affiliation jet setting class. Their office, their lies, none of it will matter let alone whether they are elected again, if they can become rich of insider trading tips.
Such a mess. But proves the F-U is always sitting just beneath the surface and will come out rapidly when one leasts expects it OR when one absolutely forces it. A lot of cards are laying face-up on the table that weren’t before. Some hands aren’t as strong as thought, others survived and thrived far more than advertised and still others were shown to be disadventageous to players not even in the hand. I suspect there are more cards yet to be flipped.
https://trumpstruth.org/statuses/39401
Now WE toll the straits! Bravo dear leader! Bravo!
He has absolutely no idea what’s going on.
His approval was just a little too high, that’s all.