Iran Warns Israel of Strait of Hormuz Closure

(MENAFN) A senior adviser to Iran's supreme leader declared early Monday that Israel's strike on Beirut had triggered the "first phase" of a coordinated response by the resistance axis — and issued a stark warning that both the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab al-Mandab Strait could be shut down if Israel pressed further.

Ali Akbar Velayati, speaking in remarks carried by Iranian media, cautioned Israel against misreading the current security calm along the Bab al-Mandab Strait as a sign of weakness or restraint.

"The resistance axis has the capability to shut both waterways. The choice is yours: stop the foolishness or enter a balanced equation involving the two straits," he said, referring to the Strait of Hormuz.

Velayati also stated that forecasts issued days earlier had now come to pass through what he described as a missile response of the "Zat al-Salasil type," signaling the strike had been premeditated and strategically calibrated.

"Today's Israeli attack on Beirut and its clear violation of the ceasefire activated the first phase of our response," he added.

The warning came after Iran launched several successive missile barrages toward northern Israel late Sunday, in direct retaliation for an Israeli airstrike on Beirut's southern suburbs — a strike Tel Aviv claimed had targeted a Hezbollah command and planning center. That attack killed two people and wounded 11 others in a preliminary toll.

Sunday's Iranian missile assault marked the first such bombardment of Israel since a fragile ceasefire took effect in early April. That truce, reached on April 8, subsequently unraveled as negotiations stalled over implementation disputes and a cascade of destabilizing regional developments — setting the stage for the dangerous new escalation now unfolding.

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