US Vice President JD Vance clarified on Wednesday (April 8) that Lebanon was not included in the US-Iran ceasefire agreed on Tuesday, despite Tehran’s understanding to the contrary.
“I think this comes from a legitimate misunderstanding. I think the Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon, and it just didn’t,” told reporters in Budapest.
He added that the US position was that the focuses solely on Iran and US allies, including Israel and the Gulf Arab states. This contradicts earlier comments from Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, a key mediator, who had suggested the truce would cover Lebanon.
Israel agrees to show restraint
Vance said Israel had offered to exercise restraint in to ensure the success of US-Iran negotiations, though he did not provide details.
“The Israelis, as I understand it … have actually offered to, frankly, to check themselves a little bit in Lebanon, because they want to make sure that our negotiation is successful,” he said.
President echoed the position, telling PBS News that Lebanon is not part of the US-Iran truce “because of Hezbollah” but would “get taken care of.”
Asked about Israel’s continued strikes, Trump said: “That’s a separate skirmish,” according to PBS News Hour correspondent Liz Landers.
Iran stresses Lebanon ceasefire
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said a Lebanon ceasefire was a key condition of Tehran’s 10-point plan to end the Middle East war, ISNA reported.
Pezeshkian told French President Emmanuel Macron that Iran’s acceptance of the ceasefire signals “responsibility and serious will to resolve conflicts through diplomacy.” He added: “Establishing a ceasefire in Lebanon has been one of the key conditions of Iran’s 10-point plan.”
Fragile truce under pressure
The two-week ceasefire between the US.and Iran remains fragile, with Tehran threatening to resume hostilities as .
Both Washington and Tehran claimed victory in the ceasefire deal, which aims to end weeks of conflict that have killed thousands and disrupted global markets.
However, fractures emerged as , killing at least 112 people and wounding hundreds on Wednesday, authorities said.
Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, warned that repeated violations of Iran’s framework for talks could undermine the ceasefire.
“The very ‘workable basis on which to negotiate’ has been openly and clearly violated, even before the negotiations began. In such a situation, a bilateral ceasefire or negotiations is unreasonable,” he wrote on X.
Israel intensifies campaign against Hezbollah
Israeli Prime Minister said the campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon would continue, emphasizing that the ceasefire with Iran does not include the Lebanese armed group.
“We continue to strike it with force,” Netanyahu said.
“Today, we dealt Hezbollah its most severe blow since the pager attacks — striking one hundred targets in 10 minutes, in areas it believed were immune,” he added, referring to a major 2024 operation against Hezbollah involving pager bombs.
