DUBAI, June 4 — Israel and Lebanon have agreed to implement a ceasefire to end hostilities, the Trump administration said yesterday, boosting hopes for a broader agreement to end the US-Israeli war with 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 by the Iran-aligned Hezbollah militia and the evacuation of all its operatives from the South Litani Sector, according to a joint statement released by the US State Department following negotiations in Washington.
The two sides agreed to a ceasefire last month, but hostilities continued. Israel invaded Lebanon in March in pursuit of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which fired across the border in support of Tehran.
The attacks on Kuwait and in the strait are the latest tests of a fragile ceasefire between the US, Israel and Iran, sending oil prices up nearly 2 per cent. The Strait of Hormuz 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, according to Kuwaiti authorities and state media.
Kuwait Airways and Jazeera Airways later resumed flights after implementing safety measures, the civil aviation authority said.
Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards said they did not target Kuwait's airport and blamed the damage on US interceptor missiles that failed to hit their targets, according to Iranian state media.
The US military rejected that claim, saying Iranian drones had deliberately targeted the airport.
Earlier, Iranian media reported that the Revolutionary Guards had attacked the headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, a US airbase and 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, targeting missile launch sites and Iranian boats allegedly attempting to lay mines. It also conducted strikes on Qeshm Island near the Strait of Hormuz following attempted Iranian attacks.
Ceasefire strained by flare-ups
Since the US and Israeli strikes on Iran began on February 28, Tehran has repeatedly attacked targets in the Gulf region, home to several US military bases.
Hostilities have periodically flared in recent weeks despite a ceasefire agreed in early April, as the US has pushed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which handled roughly one-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 approve the deal, which would leave more complex negotiations for a later stage.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told Lebanese broadcaster Al Mayadeen yesterday that talks had not been suspended, but no progress had been made.
In addition to linking a deal to an end to fighting in Lebanon, Tehran is seeking access to billions of dollars in oil revenue, waivers on sanctions affecting crude exports, the lifting of a US blockade on its ports and continued leverage over the strait.
US President Donald Trump, under pressure to lower fuel prices, has said his top priority is preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Iran maintains that its atomic programme is for peaceful purposes.
In a podcast interview released on Wednesday, Trump said Iran had agreed not to possess a nuclear weapon and that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was involved in negotiations.
Later yesterday, Trump suggested progress in negotiations with Iran could come as soon as this weekend.
“If it happens, it could happen over the weekend,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, without elaborating on what he expected.
Trump said efforts were under way 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 disruption by severely affecting energy supplies and shipping routes.
It has also fuelled the latest round of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
Yesterday, Israeli drone strikes killed at least six people in southern Lebanon and targeted a car just south of Beirut, according to Lebanese security sources. Israel said it had intercepted a hostile aircraft believed to have been launched by Hezbollah.
Araqchi said Iran would respond decisively if Israel attacked Beirut.
In the podcast interview, Trump acknowledged that he had called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “crazy” during a reportedly expletive-filled phone conversation over the fighting in Lebanon as he sought a broader deal to end the 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 agreed on the main issues concerning Iran.
