Security personnel keep watch near the expected venue of the US-Iran talks in the Red Zone area of Islamabad. AFP
US President Donald Trump has voiced displeasure at Iran's handling of the strategic Strait of Hormuz, while Tehran has reacted angrily to Israeli attacks on Lebanon, insisting that it breaches the terms of the truce.
The Israeli strikes across Lebanon on Wednesday have killed at least 300 people, including four soldiers and wounded more than 1,150 Lebanese in less than 24 hours, sparking international outrage and jeopardising a fragile two-week US-Iran ceasefire.
Pakistan, which mediated the negotiations, said the deal extends to Lebanon. “I am pleased to announce that the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America, along with their allies, have agreed to an immediate ceasefire everywhere, including Lebanon and elsewhere,” Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said.
Afterwards, Trump told NBC News that Israel was "scaling back" strikes in Lebanon and that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had assured him its attacks would become more "low-key".
A Western diplomat said on condition of anonymity that there was ongoing "pressure from European states, Gulf states and Egypt on Israel to prevent renewed Israeli airstrikes on Beirut after 'Black Wednesday'".
Israel and Lebanon will hold talks in Washington next week after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for direct negotiations, a US official said Thursday.
Islamabad was nonetheless pressing ahead with its preparations for the high-stakes talks, which official sources say will cover several sensitive points, including Iran's nuclear enrichment and the free flow of trade through the strait.
Iran has suggested that its participation could hinge on a halt in Israeli attacks on Lebanon: "The holding of talks to end the war is dependent on the US adhering to its ceasefire commitments on all fronts, especially in Lebanon," said Esmaeil Baqaei, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman.
Iranian officials have said the Israeli strikes had rendered the Pakistan talks "meaningless".
Nevertheless, Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards signalled they were committing to the ceasefire and had "not launched anything at any country", according to the state broadcaster.
In a barrage of social media posts that sparked fresh fears for the shaky truce, Trump on Thursday accused Iran of doing a "very poor job" of allowing oil through the Strait of Hormuz and of breaching the terms of their ceasefire agreement.
On Thursday, Iran announced alternative routes for ships travelling through the Strait of Hormuz, citing the risk of sea mines in the main zone of the vital waterway. However, it closed the Strait again on Wednesday in response to Israel's massive bombardment of Lebanon
A fifth of the world's oil and vast quantities of natural gas and fertiliser pass through the strait in peacetime, but only a small number of vessels have crossed since the truce was announced. Iran has allowed only non-hostile vessels during the war.
A Russian-flagged supertanker passed through the Strait into the Arab Gulf late Thursday.
'Meaningless'
The two-week truce was agreed to allow negotiations between US and Iranian officials aimed at ending a war, launch by the US and Israel on 28 february, that has already killed thousands and plunged the global economy into turmoil.
Contributing to the uncertainty around the planned talks, Tehran's ambassador to Pakistan on Thursday deleted a social media post saying an Iranian delegation would arrive in the country later that day.
Still, Vice President JD Vance is due to lead the US delegation on Saturday, joined by special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Fresh fractures in the mediation process emerged when Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif joined in the criticism of Israel's strikes on Lebanon, calling the country "evil, a cancerous state" and "a curse for humanity" on Thursday evening.
Pakistan does not formally recognise Israel.
One 30-year-old resident of Tehran told AFP they were sceptical negotiations will be successful, describing most of what Trump says as "pure noise and nonsense".
"He wants to manipulate the Islamic republic into getting a deal. I think that was his intention, if you can say there is an intention."
*This story was edited by Ahram Online.
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