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Negotiations between the US and Iran in Switzerland were cancelled after clashes between Israel and Hezbollah – before a renewed ceasefire was announced in Lebanon
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Donald Trump reportedly told Israel to agree to a ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon, as reports suggest US intelligence are concerned about Netanyahu undermining his deal with Iran.
The US president instructed Israel to accept the ceasefire on Friday, he told NBC News in a call with a reporter, adding: “You just gotta calm down sometimes and use your head”.
It comes as Washington Post reports suggest US intelligence officials are concerned Benjamin Netanyahu will try to undermine the US peace deal with Iran in a bid to continue its own conflict in Lebanon.
The officials, who spoke anonymously, said Mr Netanyahu’s political survival is linked to showing his domestic audience that he will not withdraw troops from Lebanon.
Earlier, President Trump rushed to defend his record after Iran’s supreme leader claimed he had forced through an agreement to end the war out of “desperation”, amid a pile on of criticism over the deal.
“We didn’t meet out of desperation, Iran did,” the US president wrote on Truth Social. “They are FINISHED! We’ll play out the 60 days. They get no money, not ten cents!”
Anticipated talks between the US and Iran in Switzerland were abruptly called off on Friday.
Donald Trump has issued a warning to Iran if they don’t sign a permanent peace deal.
Speaking to US Air Force service members ahead of his trip to Camp David, Trump said Iran has 60 days to make a lasting deal, “otherwise, we will do things that won’t make them happy.
“But I don’t think it’s going to get to that. I think it’s gonna be very good”, Trump said.
Israeli and Lebanese officials will meet in Washington next week, according to the US State Department.
The next round of peace negotiations will take place from Tuesday to Thursday, State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said Friday.
The statement came after Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.
During the conversation, Rubio emphasized that negotiations with Israel are the only “feasible path to reconstruction, economic recovery, and ending recurrent cycles of violence”, Pigott said.
At least 47 people have been killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon Friday, according to multiple reports that cited the Lebanese Health Ministry.
The Israeli military has vowed to “respond to Hezbollah’s violations” after four of its soldiers were killed.
“Overnight, Hezbollah once again attacked IDF soldiers operating in Southern Lebanon to protect Israeli civilians. We lost four of our soldiers”, IDF Spokesperson Brigadier General Effie Defrin said in a message shared online Friday.
“Over the course of weeks, and including last night, Hezbollah has launched hundreds of explosive drones and rockets at Israeli civilians and soldiers,” Defrin said. “These attacks by Hezbollah are violations of the ceasefire”.
“We will continue to remove immediate threats, respond to Hezbollah’s violations, and do whatever is necessary to protect our civilians”, the IDF spokesperson added.
Later Friday, US President Donald Trump told NBC News that he spoke with Israel and asked them to agree to a ceasefire with the Lebanese militant group.
Admiral Brad Cooper, the leader of US Central Command, has praised the thousands of service members who supported its naval blockade of Iranian ports.
“I could not be prouder of our 15,000 men and women in uniform who supported the blockade over the past two months”, Cooper said in a statement Friday.
The blockade was lifted Thursday as part of the interim peace deal signed by the US and Iran.
The United States and Iran have signed an interim deal to end their war, setting the table for two months of talks aimed at resolving long-standing disputes.
President Donald Trump presented the agreement on Wednesday as a “major win” for the US, extending the ceasefire agreement in place since April so the two sides can address the ongoing issue of Iran’s nuclear programme.
US hawks and supporters of Israel have variously called the agreement “a catastrophic capitulation” to Iran and a “disaster” that achieves none of Trump’s original goals.
We look at the main obstacles to a more long-term peace and what happens now the documents have been signed.
It has been a day of chaos in the Middle East after talks between the US and Iran in Switzerland were abruptly called off, clouding prospects for a lasting truce as a major escalation in Lebanon sparked chaos in the Strait of Hormuz and threatened the tenuous agreement to end the war.
Switzerland’s foreign ministry told The Independent that talks at the mountaintop resort of Bürgenstock had been postponed, without further explanation. Insiders said Iran had refused to attend after Israel ramped up airstrikes in Lebanon, killing at least 47 people, according to the Lebanese health ministry.
As renewed fighting in the region threatened to derail the peace process, Israel and Hezbollah suddenly agreed to a renewed ceasefire late on Friday afternoon. But Israeli airstrikes could still be seen across the border more than an hour after the truce was meant to take effect.
James C. Reynolds has this report below:
US President Donald Trump asked Israel to agree to a ceasefire with Iran-backed Hezbollah on Friday, it has been reported.
The pair reached an agreement earlier in the day.
According to NBC News, President Trump confirmed he told Israel to make the agreement in a phone call with a reporter.
“You just gotta calm down sometimes and use your head,” President Trump was quoted as saying on X by an NBC reporter, who added thatMr Trump declined to specify whether he spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directly.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) set up secretive cells in Iraq to conduct drone attacks on Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, according to a report.
Eight Iraqi sources told Reuters that three or four cells, each comprising around 10 elite fighters, launched at least 7 drone attacks from desert locations near Basra and Samawa against sites in nearby countries.
A number of their members were drawn from Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of hardline Shi’ite factions with thousands of fighters. But the new groups operate outside its command structure, reporting directly to the IRGC, according to the sources.
The establishment of the new Iraqi cells, which has not previously been reported, reflects a shift in IRGC tactics aimed at preserving Iran’s ability to project force across the region at a time when its armed proxy groups are greatly diminished and its own military and economic resources are depleted, the five militia commanders said.
Iran’s foreign minister has laid the responsibility for ensuring its conflict with the US is ended with the US.
In a call with his Pakistani counterpart, Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said any violations of the MoU would be directed at the US, and “warned of the consequences and repercussions of such an action”, according to Al Jazeera.
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