Iran live updates: 'We are not withdrawing' from south Lebanon, Israeli minister says

Israel Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Israel will not withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon, a key sticking point in negotiations between the U.S. and Iran over a peace agreement.

"We, as the Prime Minister and I have made unequivocally clear, are not withdrawing from this security zone," Katz said on Wednesday.

Katz said the Israel Defense Forces will remain where they are and "will not move from here."

"We will clear this area and ensure the security of the residents of the north, and under no circumstances will we withdraw from security zones, not in Lebanon, not in Syria, and not in Gaza," Katz said.

"The lesson of October 7 is that we protect our residents by having the IDF present herein these places. It protects them from raids, gunfire, and all other things. This is our policy, this is our doctrine, and this Beaufort fortress illustrates better than anything else the meaning of that policy," Katz said.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps reiterated that no ships are allowed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz without Iran's permission in a statement Thursday.

"The false claims of the United States that ships are passing through the Strait of Hormuz normally, which indicate the desperation and helplessness of that country's army, are nothing more than lies," IRGC Spokesman Ebrahim Zolfaghari said.

"It is announced that the Strait of Hormuz, as in the past, is under the complete management and control of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and no commercial ship or tanker will be able to safely transit through this strait without the permission and supervision of the powerful Iranian armed forces," Zolfaghari said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi suggested in a post to X on Thursday that the U.S. had "miscalculated" in its war against Iran due to faulty intelligence.

"The U.S. has long miscalculated due to intelligence failures. Case in point: The war on Iran," the foreign minister wrote.

"Now, an even bigger miscalculation on the Strait of Hormuz. Worse than fake news is fake intelligence. Be careful," he added.

The Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA), a newly created Iranian government agency responsible for maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, appeared to reject U.S. President Donald Trump's claim that the U.S. fully controls the vital waterway.

"Claims and repeated posts by U.S. officials that the Strait of Hormuz is no longer blocked do not change the reality: the Strait of Hormuz remains blocked and will not be reopened until Iran’s conditions are accepted," the PGSA wrote in a social media post Wednesday evening.

-ABC News' Morgan Winsor