Israel and Lebanon agree to implement ceasefire, boosting hopes for Iran deal

JERUSALEM - Lebanon and Israel agreed to implement a ceasefire to end hostilities, the Trump administration said on June 3, in a boost to hopes for a broader deal to end the US-Israeli war on Iran.

Tehran, which had conditioned any deal with the US in part on an end to fighting between Israel and Lebanon, earlier struck Kuwait, damaging its airport and injuring dozens while the US military carried out strikes near the Strait of Hormuz.

The Israel-Lebanon ceasefire is contingent on a complete cessation of fire from the Iran-aligned Hezbollah militia and the evacuation of all its operatives from the South Litani Sector, said a joint statement released by the US State Department following negotiations in Washington.

“The two sides agreed with the guidance of the United States to swiftly advance the creation of pilot zones in which the Lebanese Armed Forces will take exclusive control of the territory, to the exclusion of all non-state actors,” the statement said.

The two sides earlier agreed to a ceasefire in May but hostilities had continued.

Israel invaded Lebanon in March in pursuit of Hezbollah which had fired across the border in support of Tehran.

Lebanon and Israel on June 3 agreed to further direct negotiations to build confidence and resolve other outstanding issues.

The two nations will reconvene to hold political and security-related talks during the week of June 22 with a view towards a comprehensive agreement, according to the statement.

Meanwhile, the attacks on Kuwait and in the strait are the latest to test a shaky ceasefire between the US, Israel and Iran, sending oil prices up nearly 2 per cent, as the strait remains largely closed more than three months after the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran.

Flights at Kuwait International Airport were suspended after an Iranian drone and missile attack damaged airport facilities and diplomatic missions, killing one person and injuring more than 60 others, Kuwaiti authorities and state media said.

Kuwait Airways and Jazeera Airways later resumed flights after taking safety measures, the civil aviation authority said.

Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards said they did not fire at Kuwait’s airport and blamed the destruction on US interceptor missiles that failed to hit their targets, according to Iranian state media.

The US military said that was not accurate, and that Iranian drones deliberately targeted the airport.

Earlier, Iranian media reported that the Revolutionary Guards had attacked the headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain and a US airbase, as well as a vessel identified as Panaya.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) denied its bases had been hit and said Iranian ballistic missiles failed to strike their targets in the region.

CENTCOM said it had carried out a new round of “defensive strikes” in southern Iran, targeted missile launch sites and Iranian boats seeking to lay mines, and conducted strikes on Qeshm Island near the Strait of Hormuz after attempted Iranian attacks.

Ceasefire strained by flare-ups

Since the US and Israeli strikes on Iran began on Feb 28, Tehran has repeatedly attacked targets in the Gulf region, which is home to US military bases.

Hostilities have periodically flared up in recent weeks despite a ceasefire agreed upon in early April, as the US has pushed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which handled roughly a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments before the war.

Last week, Iran and the US signalled progress towards a tentative initial agreement to halt the war and reopen the strait, but the two sides have yet to sign off on the deal, which would leave more complex negotiations for later.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Lebanese broadcaster Al Mayadeen on June 3 that talks had not been cut off but no progress had been made.

In addition to Tehran conditioning a deal on an end to fighting in Lebanon, it also wants access to billions of dollars in oil revenue, waivers on sanctions on crude exports, a lifting of a US blockade on its ports, and continued leverage over the strait.

US President Donald Trump, who is under pressure to bring down fuel prices, has said his top priority is to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

Iran says its atomic programme is for peaceful purposes.

In a podcast interview released on June 3, Trump said Iran had agreed to not have a nuclear weapon and that Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei was involved in negotiations.

Later on June 3, Trump suggested there could be progress in negotiations with Iran as soon as this weekend.

“If it happens, it could happen over the weekend,” he told reporters in the White House’s Oval Office, without elaborating on what he expected to happen within that timeframe.

Trump said parties were working to separate the issue of reopening the strait from the conflict in Lebanon.

Israel keeps up strikes on Lebanon

The war has killed thousands, mainly in Iran and Lebanon, while causing global economic pain ⁠by severely disrupting energy supplies and other shipping.

It also sparked the latest round of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

On June 3, Israeli drone strikes killed at least six people in southern Lebanon and targeted a car just south of Beirut, said Lebanese security sources, while Israel said it intercepted a hostile aircraft likely fired by Hezbollah.

Araghchi said Iran would respond decisively if Israel attacks Beirut.

In his podcast comments, Trump acknowledged having called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “crazy” during a reportedly expletive-filled phone exchange over the fighting in Lebanon as he sought a deal over the wider war.

“At some point I said, Bibi, we got to stop this. We got to stop it,” Trump said, referring to Netanyahu by his nickname.

Netanyahu told CNBC that he and Trump sometimes had “tactical disagreements” but that they agreed on the main issues concerning Iran. REUTERS