White House Disputes Reports of Hormuz Strait Closure

The White House on Wednesday pushed back sharply against reports that Iran had closed the Strait of Hormuz, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt telling reporters the claims were false. Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency had reported that Tehran halted oil tanker traffic through the strategic waterway in response to Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, citing the attacks as a violation of ceasefire terms. Leavitt dismissed those claims at her Wednesday afternoon briefing. “With respect to the first reporting out of Iranian state media, the president was made aware of those reports before I came to the podium,” Leavitt said. “That is completely unacceptable. And again, this is a case of what they’re saying publicly is different.”...