Iran’s government said on Saturday that it had reimposed 'strict control' over the Strait of Hormuz as gunboats of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fired on three commercial vessels.

Regional mediators, including Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey, were pushing a 45-day ceasefire as part of a two-phase deal that could lead to a permanent end to the fighting.

Hundreds of thousands of Iranians who fled the country following the Islamic Revolution in 1979 are sensing that this time, regime change is closer than ever amid joint military operations by Israel and the United States.

The strikes targeted infrastructure at a large-scale missile site used by the Iranian regime to prepare attacks against Israel and other countries in the region, the military said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu extended a heartfelt Happy Nowruz to the Iranian people, wishing them a year of freedom from the already-weakened tyrannical regime and expressing hope for a peaceful future.