Iran says “no tangible progress” made in US talks as Israel, Lebanon renew ceasefire

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun is awaiting Hezbollah's response to a potential ceasefire deal with Israel, which could begin within 24 hours if the militant group agrees to the terms, according to an Al Jazeera reporter.

Aoun spoke to a number of journalists at the Baabe Palace on Thursday morning, according to Mazen Ibrahim, head of the Beirut office of the Qatari regional center. He told them that the Office of the President is waiting for answers from all parties involved before making an announcement about the agreement reached with Israel through the American mediator.

Under the terms of a new ceasefire, Israel and Lebanon agreed on Wednesday to create a number of safe “drive-through” zones inside Lebanon where the terrorist group Hezbollah will be contained.

The ceasefire “depends on the complete cessation of Hezbollah fire and the withdrawal of all Hezbollah operatives” from areas south of the Litani River.

Aoun that the implementation of the ceasefire may begin within 24 hours of the final approval.

In short, he is waiting to hear from the two main Shia groups – the Amal Movement and Hezbollah – before making an announcement about the future.

He spoke about the talks in Washington on Wednesday, indicating that they were “very difficult” and that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had to personally intervene to restart them after being suspended by the head of the Lebanese delegation, Simon Karam.

Iran's supreme leader accused the US and Israel on Thursday of trying to sow “division” among the Iranian people after “significant” suffering during the Middle East war.

In a written message, Mojtaba Khamenei said the “brutal enemy” wants to “plant seeds of doubt, despair, fear, mistrust and division” among society.

“In the face of these evil intentions, everyone must, by focusing, understanding, maintaining unity and solidarity … reduce their evil plot,” said his message.

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon – the UN Interim Force, known as UNIFIL – on Thursday said that a peacekeeper was killed and two others were wounded when bombs exploded at their camp in the southeast of the country, near the city of Marjayoun, last night.

“A UNIFIL peacekeeper died in the early hours of this morning due to serious injuries when mortar shells were fired at his position,” the military statement said, adding that an investigation had been launched.

UNIFIL said it is starting an investigation “to properly determine the circumstances that led to this tragic incident.”

The campaign said it “found the highest number of roads and impacts in South Lebanon.”

“The violence must end,” he added.

The peacekeeper was appointed on Thursday as Senior Sergeant Milovan Jovanovic, originally from Serbia, by his country's Ministry of Defense.

“He was given emergency treatment at the on-campus hospital after being injured and then airlifted to the University Medical Center in Beirut, where he died,” the statement said.

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Israel's defense minister said Thursday that a ceasefire agreement with Lebanon gives the Israeli military “freedom” to attack Beirut if Hezbollah attacks Israeli communities, adding that Israeli operations in southern Lebanon will continue.

“For now the IDF will continue its fire and ground operations, staying in the security zone in Lebanon up to the Yellow Line — including the Beaufort area — and without the return of the population, while continuing to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure,” Israel Katz said in a statement congratulating the ceasefire agreement reached on Wednesday.

He said the Israeli military maintained “the freedom of action, supported by the United States, to strike in Beirut in response to shelling of Israeli communities and areas.”

Separately, Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir called the renewal “a big mistake,” adding on social media that “the dreams of advisers are pulling the prime minister (Benjamin Netanyahu) into wrong decisions.

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Lebanese media reported on Israeli strikes in the south of the country on Thursday morning, hours after the announcement that Israel and Lebanon agreed to renew the cease-fire agreement following the speeches in Washington.

The state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported that Israeli warplanes raided roads in several areas of southern Lebanon, saying at least one resulted in injuries to a couple and their daughter when their car was attacked.

Arabic-speaking Israeli army spokesman Avichai Edrei issued a warning to evacuate people living in southern Lebanon on Thursday morning, saying “the battle continues against the targets used by Hezbollah.”

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Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said on Wednesday there was “no visible progress” in talks to end the Middle East conflict.

Araghchi said channels of communication with the US remained open, but warned that any Israeli attack on Lebanon's capital Beirut as part of its campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah would cause a “complete restart” of the conflict.

“Communications with the Americans have not been cut off, and messages have been conveyed about the need to stop attacking Beirut, but there is no visible progress in the decision of the talks,” Iran's Tasnim news agency quoted Araghchi as telling Lebanon's Al Mayadeen TV.

“Any attack on Beirut will have serious consequences and will lead to a full-scale restart of the war,” he said. “Our forces are ready to attack Israel if they attack Beirut.”

Israel and Lebanon agreed on Wednesday to renew their fragile ceasefire agreement and create several “pilot” security zones inside Lebanon where the terrorist group Hezbollah will be contained.

In a joint statement issued by the US, Lebanon and Israel after the fourth round of US mediation talks at the State Department in Washington, the two sides said the ceasefire “depends on the complete cessation of Hezbollah fire and the withdrawal of all Hezbollah operatives” from areas south of the Litani River.

It is not yet clear how the security zones will be established, but the agreement calls for the Lebanese army to fully control those areas.

“These steps will enable progress towards a comprehensive peace and security agreement,” the statement said. “All countries reaffirm that the future of relations between Israel and Lebanon must be decided by two independent governments. They reject any attempt, made by any state or non-state actor, to control the future of Lebanon.”

The latter refers to Iran, which supports Hezbollah and has insisted that Israel's attacks on Lebanon be halted as part of a possible deal with the US to end the conflict with Iran. Hezbollah is not part of the Israel-Lebanon talks.

On Wednesday, the House passed a measure that would force President Trump to end the war with Iran without congressional approval, marking the first time the lower chamber has defied the White House on the dispute.

The House voted 215 to 208 to partially approve the war powers resolution with the help of four Republicans. Democratic Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, who voted against the the previous three attempts failedhe also withdrew his opposition and voted for this measure, which made his party have a consensus on this issue.

The vote was supposed to happen before lawmakers went on a Memorial Day break, but House GOP leaders he drew a vote when it became clear that they did not have the numbers to stop it. Several Republicans were absent and others were expected to support it.

The Senate developed the same measure in May to govern Mr. Trump on Iran after four Republicans joined all but one Democrat to push it forward. It is unclear when they plan to vote on the House version.

Read more here.

In the Oval Office on Wednesday afternoon, a reporter asked President Trump how to explain the ceasefire, as the conflict with Iran continues.

“It's fine the way it is,” he said. “That's a different part of the world. You know, I'd say in that part of the world, a ceasefire is when you shoot in a balanced way.”

President Trump brought reporters to the Oval Office on Wednesday afternoon and took questions. Another reporter asked whether, given Iran's recent attack on Kuwait, the ceasefire with Iran is still in place.

“Well, you know, there's a reason for everything,” said Mr. Trump. “And we hit them hard yesterday and last night … we hit them hard.”

The president said the US was “pulling out” too quickly.

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said on Wednesday that the country's military is “conducting defensive strikes in areas that the US is allowed to use to attack civilian ships and violate the ceasefire agreement.”

Alongside his speech, Araghchi included a short video clip of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying, “Our partners in the region have been very cooperative, some are obviously very cooperative, like the UAE for example. Kuwait has been very good.”

Araghchi said “any hostile action will be met with a swift, decisive response.”

“What sanctions and wars have failed to achieve will not be achieved by more wars,” he added.

The US military has previously said it carried out “defensive strikes” against Iran.