Iran’s foreign ministry said on Monday that a ceasefire in Lebanon remains a key condition for a deal with the United States. “We insist that a ceasefire in Lebanon is an essential condition for any deal aimed at ending the war,” said foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei in a weekly press briefing, as Israel expands its offensive in Lebanon.
Israeli forces are making their deepest incursion inside Lebanon since they withdrew from the country over a quarter-century ago, despite a nominal US-brokered ceasefire and the first direct Israel-Lebanon talks in decades. It’s a challenge in the emerging deal to extend the Iran war ceasefire as Tehran wants it to end fighting in Lebanon, too.
Israel says it is targeting the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group, which has a strong political presence in southern Lebanon and has launched thousands of missiles and drones at Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon and at northern Israel.
The United States bombed Iranian radar and drone control sites in Iran after Tehran shot down an American MQ-1 Predator drone this weekend. Iran acknowledged launching a retaliatory strike, while Kuwait said it was intercepting incoming drone and missile fire.
The duelling attacks reflect the fragility of a weekslong ceasefire in the Iran war, which has seen repeated attacks even as American and Iranian officials try to negotiate a deal to extend it.
Meanwhile, fighting continues to escalate as Israel extends its occupation of Lebanon beyond the Litani River and as the militant group Hezbollah continues to launch drones into Israel.
