The commander of the Khatam Al-Anbiya Central Headquarters of Iran’s armed forces said the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports in the Persian Gulf is a "violation of the ceasefire," in a statement published by the official Islamic Republic News Agency on Wednesday.

Gen. Ali Abdollahi warned that if the U.S. blockade continues, Iran "will not allow any exports and imports to continue" in the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman or the Red Sea.

-ABC News’ Somayeh Malekian

Vice President JD Vance was heckled twice during a Turning Point USA college event in Athens, Georgia, on Tuesday, by people criticizing either the war in Iran or American support for Israel's ongoing war in Gaza.

One voice could be heard calling out, "Jesus Christ does not support genocide!" Another voice shouted, "You're killing children! You're bombing children!"

Vance addressed the event amid rising tensions between the White House and the Vatican, which in recent days has prompted President Donald Trump to repeatedly admonish Pope Leo XIV for the latter's anti-war statements.

Vance -- who converted to Catholicism in 2019 -- cited theology in his defense of U.S. conduct. "When the pope says that god is never on the side of those who wield the sword, there is a thousand -- more than a thousand-year tradition of just war theory."

"I think that it's important -- in the same way that it's important for the vice president of the United States to be careful when I talk about matters of public policy -- I think it's very, very important for the pope to be careful when he talks about matters of theology."

"If you're going to opine on matters of theology, you've got to be careful, you've got to be sure it's anchored in the truth and that's one of the things that I try to do and that's certainly something I would expect from the clergy," Vance said.

-ABC News' Claire Brinberg and Hannah Demissie

The Israel Defense Forces issued an "urgent" warning for residents of southern Lebanon, south of the Zahrani River, calling on them to move north and saying airstrikes were ongoing with "significant force" in the area.

"Hezbollah's terrorist activities are forcing the Israel Defense Forces to act against it forcefully in that area, and it has no intention of harming you," Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arab-language spokesperson, said on social media on Wednesday.

The IDF called on residents south of the Zahrani to move "immediately" north, saying that remaining in place "may endanger your lives and the lives of your families."

The IDF in recent weeks has issued similar warnings for much of southern Lebanon, where it's attacking the Hezbollah militia, an Iranian proxy.

President Donald Trump again leveled criticism at Pope Leo and the NATO alliance over the war with Iran in late-night posts on social media Tuesday.

In the first post, Trump said that the Catholic leader -- who has repeatedly called for peace in the conflict -- needed to be informed that Iran had killed tens of thousands of protesters, and that it was "absolutely unacceptable" for Iran to develop a nuclear weapon.

Trump followed up minutes later with another post directed at NATO allies, again claiming that the alliance "wasn't there for us, and they won't be there for us in the future" -- a sentiment the president has repeatedly conveyed in recent weeks.

-ABC News' Nicholas Kerr