Washington, July 17: The White House has accused Iran of violating a memorandum of understanding with the United States by attacking commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, saying President Donald Trump authorised renewed military strikes because Tehran had failed to honour its commitments despite continuing to express interest in negotiations.

Speaking at the White House daily briefing on Thursday, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Iran had breached a key provision of the agreement by firing on commercial vessels, prompting the administration to respond militarily.

“I’ve spoken with the President about this as recently as an hour ago. Iran very much continues to talk to the United States of America and express that they want to make a deal with us, because they are suffering devastating blows on behalf of our United States military,” Leavitt added.

She said the recent strikes were a direct response to Tehran’s actions.

“The reason for the recent strikes over the course of the last several days is because Iran violated the memorandum of understanding that we struck with them,” she added.

“Specifically in the memorandum of understanding that they signed, they were not to fire on commercial vessels moving through the Strait of Hormuz.”

According to Leavitt, Trump was determined not to allow attacks on international shipping to continue unchecked.

“President Trump is not going to sit by and allow these active acts of terrorism to take place in the strait without ensuring Iran pays consequences for that,” she said.

Despite the renewed military action, Leavitt added that diplomatic contacts had not ended.

“The President is always open and willing to diplomacy. He is the peace through strength President,” Leavitt said, adding that after Operation Epic Fury, “we did move forward into a diplomatic phase,” but Iran subsequently violated the agreement.

“They (Iran) have expressed they still want to make a deal to the President. We’re (US is) talking to them.”

Leavitt also announced that the United States had reimposed a naval blockade on vessels travelling to and from Iranian ports.

“We know that there is a blockade of ships directed by the President (Trump) for ships entering and departing Iranian ports only. This has been fully implemented and is in full force,” she said.

She added that more than 10,000 American sailors, Marines and airmen, supported by two aircraft carriers, over 20 warships and dozens of aircraft, were enforcing the blockade.

“During the first 24 hours of the blockade, US CENTCOM has redirected two compliant commercial vessels and disabled one non-compliant vessel,” she said, adding that the Strait remained open for ships not trading with Iranian ports.

Responding to questions about conflicting public comments from Trump and Vice-President JD Vance on diplomacy with Iran, Leavitt rejected suggestions of divisions within the administration.

“I can tell you the President, Vice-President, are on the exact same page,” she said, adding that Operation Epic Fury had left Iran’s leadership fragmented and weakened.

Tehran, July 16: Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf has said the country’s national security is tied to maintaining “Iranian arrangements” in the administration of the Strait of Hormuz, stressing that Tehran will not allow the “enemy” to impose its will.

In a statement released on Wednesday (Local time), Qalibaf, also the head of Iran’s negotiating team, said that the United States seeks to deal blows to Iran whenever possible to advance its own interests, stressing that Iran should adopt its approaches during war or negotiations based on its national interests and security, realism, and long-term strategy.

He noted that Iran does not welcome war, “but we always must be ready for battle” to safeguard national security and interests.

Qalibaf added that diplomacy and negotiation should be pursued in parallel to ensure national interests, reports Xinhua news agency.

Addressing the recently signed peace memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the United States, which envisioned a 60-day negotiation period for a final agreement, the speaker said that the MoU is meaningful only when its provisions are honoured and implemented; otherwise, if Iran is not supposed to benefit from the deal, it sees no reason to remain committed to it.

The MoU, signed on June 18 and aimed at ending the war in the region on all fronts, including Lebanon, now hangs in the balance as clashes between Iranian and US forces have erupted over the past few days.

Meanwhile, the US military conducted a new round of strikes against Iran, US Central Command said early on Thursday (Indian time).

“At 3 p.m. ET (1900 GMT), U.S. forces launched operations for a second wave of strikes today against Iran,” the command wrote in a post on X. “The strikes are targeting Iranian military capabilities used to threaten vessels freely transiting through the Strait of Hormuz.”

Rome, July 16: Israel and Lebanon concluded a new round of talks in Rome, moving closer to launching a pilot project, under which control of parts of southern Lebanon would be transferred from Israeli forces to the Lebanese army, according to Italian media.

Israel and Lebanon have made progress on a mechanism for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the first two “pilot zones” in southern Lebanon and agreed to continue negotiations at a later date, according to a report of the Italian news agency Agenzia Nova on Wednesday (local time).

The development came after the sixth round of US-mediated talks between the two sides concluded in Rome, the report said, citing sources close to the negotiations.

According to the report, the talks focused on implementing the framework agreement reached in Washington on June 26. The two sides further clarified the sequence and conditions for the withdrawal of Israeli forces, the deployment of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), the disarmament of Hezbollah, and the verification of the Lebanese state’s effective control over the areas concerned.

Sources said Israel is expected to proceed with the withdrawal from the first two pilot zones because the designated areas are considered to pose no direct threat to Israel’s security, Xinhua news agency said, quoting Agenzia Nova report.

The pilot project is intended to test the Lebanese army’s ability to take control of the areas, remove military infrastructure and prevent Hezbollah from re-establishing a presence before the mechanism is expanded to other parts of southern Lebanon.

Both Israel and Lebanon recognise that the overall process will take time, as Lebanon is seeking to restore state sovereignty in the south while avoiding internal instability, whereas Israel insists on verifiable security guarantees to ensure that areas vacated by its forces do not return to Hezbollah’s control, according to the sources.

Israel maintains that a full withdrawal remains conditional on the Lebanese army’s ability to establish lasting control over the territory and advance Hezbollah’s disarmament, the sources added.

The sixth round of talks, held at the US Embassy in Rome, followed a previous meeting in Washington late last month aimed at advancing a ceasefire framework. The parties also agreed to hold another round of talks, with the date yet to be determined.

Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has said hosting the talks reflects Italy’s role in supporting efforts to promote peace and stability in the Middle East.