A disagreement between Washington and Tehran over whether a temporarycease-fireagreed earlier this week also coverLebanonis shaking the accord as Israel vows to continue to hit Iran-backed Hezbollah “wherever required.”
Hezbollah, which is based in Lebanon, is considered a terrorist organization by Israel and the United States.
Iranian negotiators are set to meet a US delegation led by Vice President JD Vance later this week for the first peace talks of the war.
But a temporary truce announced earlier this week to allow for the talks appears strained with no sign Iran had fully lifted its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which has caused the worst disruption to global energy supplies in history. Tehran said there would be no deal as long as Israel was striking Lebanon.
“Whoever acts against Israeli civilians — will be struck. We will continue to strike Hezbollah wherever required, until we restore full security to the residents of the north” of Israel, Netanyahu said in a social media post on April 9.
The Iranian state news agency Fars reported that Tehran is considering withdrawing from the cease-fire deal over Israel’s continued attacks on Hezbollah.
The White House has said Lebanon is not part of the truce, while several countries have expressed concern the issue threatens to unravel a deal that suspended the war after more than five weeks of fighting.
“Israeli actions are putting the US-Iran ceasefire under severe strain. TheIran truceshould extend to Lebanon,” the European Union’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas said on April 9.
