War in the Middle East: Iran accuses the United States of violating the ceasefire and threatens to retaliate

Always hot and cold. Iran accused the United States on Tuesday May 25 of having violated the ceasefire after nighttime American strikes in the south of the country, which dealt a blow to apparent progress in negotiations to put a lasting end to the war in the Middle East. The signs of openness of recent days have once again given way to martial rhetoric,

“The American terrorist army, continuing its illegal and unjustified actions since the ceasefire, has committed over the past 48 hours a flagrant violation of the ceasefire in the Hormozgan region,” declared the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, without specifying the nature of the facts. And to prevent: “The Islamic Republic will not leave any malicious act unanswered”.

The American command for the Middle East (Centcom) announced that it had struck missile launch sites in the South during the night. Iran has not officially confirmed the information, but state media reported explosions in the port city of Bandar Abbas and announced that an investigation was underway to determine the origin.

In Iran, internet access was partially restored on Tuesday according to the foreign cybersecurity monitoring NGO NetBlocks, after an almost total cut of almost three months due to the war, triggered on February 28 by the Israeli-American attack. “For a few minutes, I have been able to open international websites with my service provider”a 22-year-old resident of the western city of Kermanshah told AFP, adding that she still needed a VPN (virtual private network) to access social networks.

Senior Iranian officials, including chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, visited Doha on Monday, the first since the start of hostilities. If Tehran had warned Monday that it was not imminent, the agreement remains possible, said American Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking of discussions “around the precise formulation of the initial text”. In a telephone conversation Tuesday with the Qatari leader, Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian said his country was “ready to reach a respectful framework to end the war”according to state radio and television Irib.

His American counterpart, for his part, is seeking a way out of this unpopular war which has seriously disrupted the world economy due to Tehran’s virtual blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of crude oil and liquefied natural gas normally transit. consumed around the world. Its reopening is a major issue in the negotiations and tensions remain high: an oil tanker was hit on Tuesday off the coast of Oman, according to the British maritime agency UKMTO. Donald Trump is due to meet his government on Wednesday and according to the daily New York Post, this meeting will be mainly devoted to Iran.

On the Lebanese front, the Israeli army continued strikes in the South on Tuesday, particularly in Nabatiyé, after an evacuation order. At least one person was killed and two others injured among rescuers affiliated with the Amal group, an ally of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah movement, in Srifa, according to the Health Ministry.

At the same time, the Israeli army announced it would extend its ground operations against Hezbollah beyond the “yellow line” which she established in southern Lebanon. “We are intensifying our action in Lebanon”Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated on Tuesday, despite a ceasefire in force since April 17. According to the Lebanese authorities, Israeli strikes killed 31 people.