U.S. Vice President JD Vance arrived Sunday at a Swiss mountain resort for peace talks with Iran, but the diplomacy was overshadowed by Tehran's announcement that it had reimposed its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) to end the war, reached last week, calls for reopening the strait and halting all hostilities, including in Lebanon, which Israel, a U.S. ally, invaded in March.
But with little sign of an end to the Israeli attacks on Lebanon, Iran said Saturday it had closed the strait again.
U.S. officials disputed the closure, saying 55 merchant ships crossed Saturday. However, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency cited a military source Sunday saying authorities had stopped issuing transit permits.
As is often the case during the war, the weekend announcement occurred while markets were closed, making it difficult to immediately assess the economic impact.
