Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a US-brokered ceasefire after deadly clashes in Lebanon jeopardized a broader Middle East peace deal, as US-Iran talks have been postponed.
geneva: Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire on Friday, a US official said, less than two days after signing a deal to end the Middle East war after deadly exchanges between the two sides raised tensions in Lebanon.
Talks between the US and Iran scheduled for Friday in Switzerland to take the deal to the next stage were postponed amid the fighting, with no new date announced.
Tehran’s top negotiator warned it would not budge on its red lines and that its finger was still “on the trigger”, while shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, which was essentially closed during the war, was seen accelerating.
The agreement signed this week by President Donald Trump and his Iranian counterpart Massoud Pezeshkian aims to end the war that began with US-Israeli strikes on February 28 that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The agreement was also intended to prevent fighting in Lebanon, which Iran has always insisted should be included under any agreement, making Israel’s ongoing campaign there a source of frustration for Washington.
Israel’s military said Friday it struck more than 80 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon and killed dozens of members of the Iran-backed group.
Lebanon said Israeli airstrikes in the south killed 21 people on Friday, while the Israeli military reported four soldiers killed, prompting furious reactions at home.
But a US official told AFP that the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, which was supposed to begin immediately, was brokered by US and Qatari mediators after talks with Israel and Iran. A Gulf diplomat confirmed the ceasefire.
However, a previous ceasefire in April had done nothing to stop attacks by both sides, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said just hours earlier that Israeli forces would remain in Lebanon “as long as necessary” and that Iran-backed Hezbollah would pay a “heavy price” for its attacks.
Far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir went even further, saying that “the whole of Lebanon should burn” after the soldiers’ deaths.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused Israel of being only interested in “permanent war”.
‘Two perverts’
Preparations were made at the Swiss resort of Bergenstock, near Lake Lucerne, to host the Iranian and US delegations led by Tehran’s top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and US Vice President JD Vance.
This was to begin two months of talks to discuss outstanding issues not covered by the initial agreement, particularly Iran’s nuclear program.
Switzerland’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that the discussions had been postponed but said it “stands ready to facilitate these talks”.
The Financial Times, citing diplomats, said the postponement was due to Israel’s attacks on Lebanon, but there was no immediate confirmation.
A diplomatic source from regional player UAE said there were “two flaws” in the deal – namely that Israel “didn’t like it” and there was also radical opposition within Iran.
‘Crushing reaction’
Ghalibaf said Friday that talks with the United States would remain tied to Tehran’s “red lines.”
“If the enemy tries to overdo it, we have proven that our fingers are on the trigger and we have no hesitation in giving a befitting reply to the enemy,” he said in comments published by the official IRNA news agency.
Vance, meanwhile, has expressed a degree of antipathy toward the Israeli government that is rare for a top US official, telling The New York Times, “You can’t fight your way out of solving every single national security problem that you have”.
Iran’s new supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who succeeded his father, said on Thursday he approved the deal with the US, despite having “different views”.
A key aspect of the deal was the immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a major shipping bottleneck whose closure sent global energy prices soaring.
A total of 25 commercial vessels transited the newly-opened strait on Thursday, the highest number since mid-April, according to data from maritime tracking firm AXSMarine published on Friday.
According to economists, one fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas exports passed through the strait in peacetime.
The US lifted its parallel naval blockade of Iranian ports on Thursday, the US military said, noting that US warships “will remain in the normal area”.
Iran’s maritime authority said on Friday that all ships wishing to transit the Strait of Hormuz despite its reopening must submit transit requests “48 hours in advance.”
