US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he has asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to scale back the bombing of Lebanon.
Gulf countries and some NATO members have insisted that a ceasefire in the area must be part of a broader truce with Iran.
While some reports indicate that Israel had paused the barrage of airstrikes on Lebanon, local media say that Israel has continued to pound its neighboring country.
RT reports: Despite Trump’s assertion, Lebanese media reported Israeli strikes across the country on Friday morning. An estimated 1,800 people have been killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon since the start of the escalation in the Middle East, with more than 300 dying on Wednesday alone. The attacks triggered significant public outcry, including from US allies in the EU.
Iran has insisted that fighting in Lebanon must cease as part of the two-week truce framework with the US – something Washington and the Jewish state have opposed.
The exact outlines of a potential US-Iran peace deal remain unclear, after Iranian media shared a plan envisaging non-aggression, Tehran’s control over the strategic Strait of Hormuz, acceptance of some uranium enrichment, stopping Israeli attacks on Hezbollah, and the lifting of all sanctions. The US previously opposed many of the terms.
As the tentative US-Iran truce appears to be generally holding in the broader Gulf, Trump warned that Iran had “better stop” charging fees from vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz, after the Islamic Republic vowed to take the management of the strategic waterway to a “new stage.”
Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains limited and under the control of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which has published a map of “designated routes” citing the risk of mines.
Key developments:
- President Trump previously said that American forces “will remain in place in, and around, Iran” until Tehran fully complies with the “real agreement.”
- Trump has also lashed out at NATO over the perceived lack of support in the Iran war. According to media reports, Washington is considering pulling out its troops to “punish” states that were most reluctant to participate.
- There are increasing signs that Israel’s continued strikes in Lebanon could derail the US-Iran two-week ceasefire, with leading American economist Jeffrey Sachs telling RT that Israel is now a “rogue state” and urging an end to its offensive.
- Oil industry executives are pressing the White House to oppose Iran’s plan to charge tolls on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, according to Politico.