Many Israeli strikes in Lebanon, confusion over the Strait of Hormuz before signing

President Trump said on Wednesday the memorandum of understanding did not last and he would continue to fight if Iran “doesn't behave properly.”

Speaking to reporters in France at the G7 meeting, Mr. Trump said: “If I don't like it, we'll go back to shooting at them, dropping bombs on their heads. If I don't like it, ⁠If they don't behave, we'll go back to dropping bombs that hit between their heads.”

The president also said the deal does not include immediate relief from sanctions on Iran, adding that he would clarify the issue later.

Five Iranian-sanctioned ships have crossed the US naval blockade in the Gulf of Oman in the past 24 hours.

Three crude oil tankers, one bulk carrier and a container ship left Iran's southern port of Chabahar and appeared to be heading east after passing the embargo on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to MarineTraffic.com open source data.

Another permitted oil tanker, the Stream, switched off its navigation system on Monday night as it approached the blockade in the east, leaving the Pakistani port of Karachi.

On Wednesday, the crude oil tanker Herby and the bulk carrier Aries were also tracked to the blockaded area from Pakistan.

All the vessels are Iranian-marked and belong to the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines or the National Iranian Tanker Company, both of which are subject to US sanctions over Iran's oil and arms trade program.

Commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains low, with the number of ships passing through the gateway to the Persian Gulf in the single digits, compared to a historical average of about 135 ships per day.

Oil prices have stabilized after falling sharply on hopes of a possible end to the war and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, which is crucial for transporting oil and gas around the world.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, traded 1% lower at $78.19 a barrel early Wednesday after falling more than 5% on Tuesday. It was still above its estimated price of $70 a barrel in late February, before the war began.

Benchmark US crude fell 1.1% to $75.21 a barrel.

Mixed messages about the status of the US naval blockade of Iranian ports and ships around the Strait of Hormuz, as well as uncertainty over the terms of the US-Iran deal, have kept shipping low so far.

On Sunday, President Trump announced the deal with Iran and said in a Truth Social post that he would “authorize the immediate lifting of the United States Naval blockade.” He later said the strait would be reopened if the agreement was signed on Friday, and various naval commands, including the US, said on Monday that the blockade remained in place.

On Tuesday, however, an Iranian embassy official said the US embargo had been lifted ahead of the planned signing ceremony, and CBS News tracked down at least four Iranian-sanctioned ships crossing the US embargo line since Mr. Trump on Sunday.

There are four major shipping companies he said they will continue with normal operations only in a crisis where the details of the US-Iran deal are clear, and they are getting security guarantees on important shipping lanes.

“Due to the lack of information and the history of overly optimistic assurances, we believe that the security situation in the shipping industry is still volatile, and we still consider it a high risk for ships to start moving right now,” said Jakob Larsen, head of safety and security at BIMCO, one of the world's largest shipping organizations, said Monday.

The Israeli military carried out airstrikes in several areas of southern Lebanon on Wednesday, Lebanon's National News Agency said, despite a memorandum of understanding on the Middle East war that Iran insists includes Lebanon.

The NNA said Israeli warplanes attacked the area of ​​Nabatieh al-Fawqa and the eastern suburbs of the neighboring town of Kfar Tebnit. The Israelis also launched a drone strike in the town of Ansariyeh in the Zahrani region, NNA reported.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Tuesday that the continued presence of Israeli troops in Lebanon would be a violation of the US-Iran agreement that was to be signed on Friday.

On Monday, Israeli officials said the army would remain in a large swath of southern Lebanon that it has seized over the past three and a half months, forcing tens of thousands of civilians to leave.

“Trump's agreement is not binding,” said Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

The first tankers carrying Iranian oil left the US blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, a tracking website said on Wednesday, two days before Washington and Tehran launched talks under a cooperation agreement between the two nations.

Negotiations on the final agreement will begin on Friday at the Burgenstock Mountain resort in Switzerland after the formal signing of the memorandum.

The TankerTrackers website, which monitors oil shipments and storage, marked “Iran's first crude oil shipment in two months,” citing digital tracking data confirmed by satellite imagery.

“At least two National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) VLCC supertankers named DIONA (9569695) and HERO2 (9362073) have exited the US Navy embargoed area carrying a combined total of 3.8 million barrels of Iranian crude oil between them,” TankerTrackers told X, later adding that a third tanker had exited.

The US will allow Iran to immediately begin selling oil and gasoline under the deal, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday, citing unnamed people familiar with the deal.

The lifting of sanctions on oil exports will take effect immediately after the signing, the Journal said.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina told CBS News that she is “very skeptical” of planned US-Iran talks, but is willing to “wait and see.”

The two countries have agreed to a mutual agreement to extend their ceasefire, reopen the Strait of Hormuz and start long-term nuclear talks in the next 60 days.

Asked if he believed the initial deal was a good or bad idea, the GOP lawmaker and longtime Iran hawk said: “I don't know yet.”

“I mean, I like the idea of ​​opening the straits and ending the conflict,” he said. “As for how the negotiations work in the long term … let's wait and see. I reserve judgment, but I don't mind speeding up the process.”

Graham added: “When it comes to Iran, I'm very skeptical, but you never know until you try, so you have to try.”

Graham spoke to reporters after he and other GOP lawmakers met with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to discuss Iran and the Pentagon's request for more funding.