U.S. peace deal with Iran in question as Israel strikes Lebanon

An anticipated deal with Iran to stop the war and open the Strait of Hormuz hangs in the balance as Israel and Tehran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon carried out business attacks on Sunday.

The Israel Defense Forces said in a social media post on Sunday that they had struck a “Hezbollah command center” in Beirut after Hezbollah launched airstrikes “against Israeli civilians and IDF troops operating in southern Lebanon.” The IDF said in a subsequent Telegram post that it was preparing more attacks targeting Israeli territory.

The clash comes after US President Donald Trump claimed that Washington and Tehran would sign a deal on Sunday with Iran to stop fighting and open the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump said in a Sunday Truth social post that the Israeli attacks on Beirut “should not have happened, especially on a special day when we are so close to a peace deal with Iran.”

He wrote, “Israel has the right to defend itself against threats, but the attack it responded to was very small and meaningless, no one was injured, injured or killed, and this important process should not be disrupted.” “There should be no further attacks by Israel anywhere in Lebanon, but there should also be no further attacks against Israel by any other party, including Hezbollah.”

The US President warned the parties not to “make a big deal out of this”.

The agreement, known as the Memorandum of Understanding, reportedly includes reopening the Strait of Hormuz and taking steps to dismantle Iran’s nuclear program. It would also end Tehran’s funding of violence and impose an “observation regime” on the Islamic Republic.

Iran would be rewarded for compliance, including freezing assets and easing sanctions.

Trump later told Fox News that he still expected the agreement to be signed on Sunday, and that he had spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The president reportedly asked Netanyahu, “What are you doing?” And urged the Israeli leader not to carry out more attacks. He also reportedly said he would ask Iran not to respond.

Trump said on Truth Social on Saturday that he hoped “this process will work quickly, easily and smoothly,” threatening that if it did not, “the last option we have is, hopefully, it will never be used again!”

Shelling between Israel and Lebanon last week threatened to derail a tenuous ceasefire and rekindle the more than three-month-old conflict. The US briefly attacked targets in Iran, while Iran fired missiles at Israel and other US allies in the region. The proposed deal was announced shortly after the exchange.

But the renewed hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah on Sunday night once again cast doubt on whether a peace deal is likely.

Iranian parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said in a post to X that Israeli attacks in Lebanon risked ruining the agreement.

“The Zionist incursions into Dahiyah have once again shown that the United States lacks either the will to live up to its commitments or the ability to do so,” he said in the post, according to a translation on X.

Still, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz said during an interview on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday that he was confident the agreement would be signed within the day.

“I am confident. The team is confident,” he said. “I don’t want to get ahead of the President or the Vice President, but they have every intention of getting this done today.”

“As far as I know, we’re on the right track. It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when,” U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in an appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

“If Iran wants this to be maintained, they will undoubtedly have to pull Hezbollah back,” Hegseth said.

This story is developing. Please check back for updates.