Iran said it was once again closing the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping lane on Saturday over Israel's attacks in Lebanon, calling them a violation of its deal with the United States to end the Middle East war.

Mediators in the U.S.-Iran conflict, including Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, are due to gather for talks in Egypt on Sunday, Cairo and Islamabad said.

The American push to quickly begin high-stakes talks with Iran hit a snag Friday, just days after the signing of an agreement that opens a two-month window for negotiations on Tehran's nuclear program and returning oil traffic through the Strait of Hormuz to prewar levels.

Iranian officials did not travel as planned to Switzerland, insisting that Israel strikes on Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants Lebanon must stop before the talks can take place, according to three regional officials and a person familiar with the matter. They were not authorized to publicly discuss the ongoing mediation to try to get the talks rescheduled and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Israel's military said Friday its forces struck targets throughout southern and eastern Lebanon overnight into Friday as Hezbollah reported intense fighting in the area, threatening the nascent agreement between Iran and the United States to end their war.

Talks planned for Friday in Switzerland between Iran and the United States, which Vice President JD Vance had been scheduled to attend, found themselves postponed as the fighting intensified. Mediators worked to reschedule the meetings crucial for starting talks over a permanent end to the Iran war, with much of the attention focused on Lebanon, regional officials said.

Switzerland announced Friday that planned talks on implementing a U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding to end the Middle East war had been postponed, hours after U.S. Vice President JD Vance's departure for the Alpine country was cancelled.

"The planned talks between the U.S., Iran, Qatar and Pakistan have been postponed," the Swiss foreign ministry said in a message to AFP.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance on Thursday issued an extraordinary rebuke to Israeli critics of the Iran deal, warning them not to alienate their "only powerful ally" left in the world.

Vance told members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet to "wake up and smell the reality," amid growing tensions between Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu underscored the importance of maintaining close ties with the United States on Thursday, saying Washington had stood by its ally during the Middle East war.

"The struggle is not yet over, and further challenges lie ahead. They require calm judgement, steadfast defense of Israel's security interests, and at the same time the preservation of our vital relationship with our American friends, who stood shoulder to shoulder with us in this fight -- a partnership we deeply appreciate," Netanyahu said at a function, according to a statement issued by his office.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Thursday that Israel's "struggle" is not over yet, and that more challenges lie ahead, after the U.S. and Iran signed an MoU to end the war between them, which also inlcudes a clause about stopping the conflict in Lebanon and respecting its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Qatar, a key negotiator in the deal to end the war between the U.S. and Iran, said on Thursday the agreement served as a firm basis for further talks.

The Gulf state's foreign ministry said in a statement that the deal "represents a solid foundation for advancing to the next stage of negotiations between the American and Iranian parties", ahead of technical talks expected in Switzerland on Friday.

Over the past two and a half years, Israel has taken control of swaths of Gaza, Lebanon and Syria that amount to its biggest expansion of militarily occupied lands in decades.

It is an area larger than many major cities — roughly 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles) — and Israel has said it plans to stay indefinitely.