The fragile two-week truce between Iran and the United States faced uncertainty on Wednesday, as Tehran threatened to resume hostilities while Israel carried out a major bombardment in Lebanon.
Both Washington and Tehran agreed to the two-week ceasefire and initiated negotiations aimed at ending a war that has killed thousands across the Middle East and caused global economic disruption.
However, the deal’s weaknesses became evident as Israel launched its heaviest strikes on Lebanon since the Iran-backed group Hezbollah entered the war in early March, killing at least 254 people and injuring hundreds on Wednesday, authorities reported.
Israel stated that its operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon are not part of the US-Iran truce agreed late on Tuesday, while Iran’s parliament speaker appeared to threaten the ceasefire over what he described as “repeated violations” of Iran’s framework for talks.
“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,” Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on X.
Adding to the truce’s fragility, which had been agreed just hours before a deadline set by US President Donald Trump, a senior US official stated that Iran’s 10-point plan did not match the conditions agreed by the White House to pause the war.
In Lebanon, where UN rights chief Volker Turk described the scale of the killing as “horrific,” strikes across Beirut, carried out without warning, triggered panic and chaos.
Local officials reported that more than 1,500 people have died in Lebanon over the past six weeks, including 130 children, and that over a million people have been displaced.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warned that they would “fulfil our duty and deliver a response” if Israel did not stop its strikes, while Hezbollah stated it had a “right” to respond, although it appeared to have paused attacks after the truce.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country remains ready to confront Iran if necessary, noting that it still had “objectives to complete.” The Israeli military said it continued to pursue the goal of “disarming” Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, whose government helped broker the ceasefire, said on Wednesday that there have already been reports of violations between the United States and Iran, and he urged all sides to honour the truce and show restraint.