Middle East crisis live: US blockade of strait of Hormuz begins as Hezbollah urges Lebanon to pull out of talks with Israel

Vance accuses Iran of ‘economic terrorism’; Hezbollah says it will not abide by agreements that result from talks in the US US starts naval blockade of Iranian ports after deadline passes Firefighters search a building for survivors minutes after an Israeli airstrike in Nabatieh, Lebanon.

Follow live for latest updates in the Middle East crisis as a US blockade of the strait of Hormuz comes into effect. Photograph: Chris McGrath/Getty Images View image in fullscreen Firefighters search a building for survivors minutes after an Israeli airstrike in Nabatieh, Lebanon.

Follow live for latest updates in the Middle East crisis as a US blockade of the strait of Hormuz comes into effect.

Photograph: Chris McGrath/Getty Images Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature From 6h ago 03.32 CEST Hezbollah says it will not abide by agreements from Lebanon-Israel talks The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah will not abide by any agreements that may result from direct Lebanon-Israel talks in the US , negotiations it firmly opposes, a senior Hezbollah official has said.

Wafiq Safa , a high-ranking member of Hezbollah’s political council, spoke on the eve of talks expected in Washington between Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors to the US. It will be the first time in decades that envoys from Lebanon and Israel, which do not have diplomatic relations, meet face-to-face in direct talks.

“As for the outcomes of this negotiation between Lebanon and the Israeli enemy, we are not interested in or concerned with them at all,” Safa told the Associated Press. Wafiq Safa, a senior Hezbollah political council member, during the interview with AP in Beirut.

Photograph: Hussein Malla/AP Separately, the leader of Hezbollah urged Lebanon to pull out of the talks with Israel. Naim Kassem spoke in a televised address on the eve of the scheduled meeting. The latest round of fighting was sparked by Hezbollah firing rockets into northern Israel on 2 March, after the US and Israel attacked Iran .

At least 2,055 people have been killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon, the health ,inistry says, among them 252 women, 165 children and 87 medical workers, while 6,588 others were wounded. More than 1 million people have been displaced. Lebanon’s government – which says it is committed to disarming Hezbollah – had called for direct talks early on in the war.

Last week, Israel announced its approval of talks. Reuters has reported that the US and Iran will return to Pakistan for peace talks. Citing four sources, the news agency said the negotiating teams from both sides will be in Islamabad for a second round of talks later this week.

We will bring you more updates as we get it. Saudi Arabia is urging the US to end its blockade of the strait of Hormuz over fears Iran could retaliate and target other shipping routes, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing Arab officials. The officials raised concerns that Iran could close the Bab al-Mandab, a major global chokepoint between Yemen and the Horn of Africa which has been vulnerable to Houthi attacks.

Saudi Arabia has been relying on its Red Sea port at Yanbu to export oil, but if the Bab el-Mandeb closes, the kingdom could lose its last remaining export route. It’s 9.30am in Tehran, 9am in Tel Aviv and 2am in Washington DC – and if you’re just joining today’s live coverage of the US-Israel war on Iran , here’s a summary of the latest to bring you up to speed.

The US blockade of ships using Iranian ports in the Gulf began on Monday , turning the six-week-old conflict between the US-Israeli coalition and Iran into a test of economic endurance. Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, warned that any threat to the strait of Hormuz would have “widespread consequences for the world” , according to Iranian media.

Pezeshkian reportedly told French president Emmanuel Macron yesterday that the US’s “excessive demands” had thwarted an agreement during the weekend talks in Pakistan. US Central Comma…