Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said that the Strait of Hormuz will be administered by Tehran, state media reported on Tuesday, following talks pushing to end the United States-Israeli war on the Islamic Republic.

Iran and the United States agreed on Monday to set up communication lines to keep the vital shipping route open and end fighting in Lebanon, mediators said, after their first round of talks in Switzerland toward ending the conflict that has engulfed the Middle East.

“The Strait of Hormuz will never return to its pre-war conditions and will be administered by the Islamic Republic of Iran, in accordance with international law,” Ghalibaf said on his return from the talks, according to IRNA.

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said technical talks between Iran and the United States in Switzerland have concluded, with negotiating groups to be set up on nuclear issues and sanctions.

The negotiators “decided that four working groups would be established: Sanctions Termination, Nuclear Affairs, Reconstruction and Economic Development, and Monitoring and Implementation,” said IRNA state news agency, quoting Gharibabadi.

On the Lebanese front, President Joseph Aoun and US Vice President JD Vance discussed a de-confliction mechanism for Lebanon on Monday, Aoun’s office said, as Vance said the move aimed to prevent spiraling Israel-Hezbollah violence.

Meanwhile, Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN secretary general, said “yesterday marked the first day since the resumption of hostilities on March 2 in Lebanon, that peacekeepers from our peacekeeping force in Lebanon did not detect any trajectories or observe any interceptions”.

On the other hand, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nonetheless declared that Israeli forces had been granted “full freedom” to engage any threat encountered in southern Lebanon, reaffirming that troops would remain deployed in the region for as long as deemed necessary. (AFP)