With fighting paused since an April 8 ceasefire, negotiations to bring an end to the conflict and resume trade through the blockaded waterway have stalled, leaving the global economy shaken by the tumult.

“The possibility of war is low because of the enemy’s weakness, the armed forces are lying in wait with full magazines,” said senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards official Mohammad Akbarzadeh.

The Middle East war erupted in late February with US-Israeli strikes on Iran, spreading swiftly across multiple fronts and engulfing the region.

But hopes of an imminent deal to avoid further hostilities sent benchmark oil contracts falling more than five per cent on Wednesday.

Adding to optimism was an Iranian state TV report that said Washington had committed in a draft framework to lifting its naval blockade on Iran, as well as restoring traffic in the Strait of Hormuz and withdrawing American forces from the Gulf region.

The report cited what it described as an outline of a potential memorandum of understanding, but the White House swiftly blasted it as “a complete fabrication”.

“Nobody should believe what Iranian state media is putting out,” the White House said on X.

A day earlier Iran accused the US of breaching the ceasefire, and warned it was prepared to retaliate following the most serious strikes since the truce took effect.

The US military said it launched “self-defence strikes” targeting Iranian missile sites and mine-laying boats overnight Monday to Tuesday.

Akbarzadeh warned that Iran’s military would turn the area along its coastline “into a graveyard for aggressors”, in quotes carried by the Tasnim News Agency.

Tehran’s intelligence ministry, meanwhile, said the US and Israel were still seeking to overthrow the Islamic Republic and partition Iran, citing evidence of efforts to foment division and carry out sabotage missions.

‘Will there be missiles?’

Iran and the US have been engaged in a war of words for weeks as they try to negotiate a deal, with mediation efforts led by Pakistan.

Neither side appears ready to compromise on the key sticking points, which include the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s nuclear programme.

On Wednesday, the Revolutionary Guards’ navy insisted that only ships “willing to abide by Iranian order” would be allowed to pass through the waterway.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had said on Tuesday that a peace deal remained within reach, but that the Strait of Hormuz would be reopened “one way or the other”.

In a further step towards normalcy for Iranians, authorities partially restored access to the global internet on Tuesday, after a three-month shutdown.

“I do feel better now because I finally can use my favourite applications,” said Hana, a 20-year-old student in Tehran who gave only her first name.

“At the same time, I have this concern that war might resume any minute and just cut me off again from my friends.”

Amir, a 27-year-old software developer in the Iranian capital, also said he feared renewed fighting.

“I feel like nothing is certain yet, even though the ceasefire is still ongoing and there is news of a possible agreement. But the daily question is, will there be missile strikes tonight?”

In a statement marking the start of the Eid al-Azha holiday, Tehran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said the US was losing its influence in the Middle East and warned countries to stop hosting bases from which the US could launch attacks.

Dozens dead in Lebanon

On the Lebanon front of the war, Israel launched broad strikes on the country including near the city of Tyre on Wednesday,

In southern Lebanon, Israel carried out strikes on Tuesday that Beirut’s health ministry said killed 31 people, including at least four children.

An AFP correspondent at one strike site near the city of Tyre saw rescue workers removing debris on Wednesday and carrying a white body bag from the rubble, which was strewn with household items like rugs and cushions.

Iran has demanded that any peace accord apply to Lebanon, where an April 17 truce has failed to stop fighting that began when militant group Hezbollah attacked Israel in early March.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday vowed to “crush” Hezbollah, and an Israeli military official told AFP the following day that the country’s forces were expanding their ground operations deeper inside Lebanon.

Hezbollah said its fighters clashed with Israeli forces “at point-blank range” on Wednesday in a strategically significant town north of the Litani River, just beyond an Israeli-declared “yellow line” in south Lebanon where its troops have been operating.