WASHINGTON\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Pivotal negotiations in Pakistan this weekend between the United States and Iran could hinge on developments in Lebanon, where ongoing Israeli strikes Thursday risked derailing a wider regional ceasefire.<\/p>\n
Tensions only deepened amid reports of limited Iranian drone attacks across the region, and as Arab states warned that the Strait of Hormuz \u2014 a vital global shipping route \u2014 had only partially reopened despite President Trump\u2019s assurances that Tehran had guaranteed full access.<\/p>\n
Yet tests of the ceasefire have not deterred Iranian and American officials from their plans to travel to Pakistan on Saturday for the highest-level talks between the two nations, aimed at a final agreement to end the war, now in its sixth week.<\/p>\n
The stakes are high for Iran, which has been pummeled by U.S. attacks, and for Trump, whose pursuit of the war has been domestically unpopular. The plan appeared precarious early Thursday, amid ongoing disagreement over whether the ceasefire included Lebanon.<\/p>\n
Iran warned that continued Israeli attacks targeting the militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon could jeopardize the two-day-old truce. Hours later, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government would open direct negotiations with Lebanon \u2014 but subsequently declared he would not cease strikes there.<\/p>\n
His move to negotiate with the Lebanese came the day after President Trump asked Netanyahu to slow operations in Lebanon ahead of the Pakistan talks, a source familiar with the matter told The Times. Iran\u2019s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, told reporters Thursday that the talks starting would be \u201ccontingent\u201d upon hostilities ceasing in Lebanon.<\/p>\n
As Israel\u2019s posture on Lebanon injected uncertainty into the situation Thursday, the Strait of Hormuz \u2014 which Iran agreed to reopen in the ceasefire deal \u2014 remained closed, according to Sultan Al Jaber, a government minister in the United Arab Emirates. Traffic through the strait was below 10% of its usual volume Thursday, with only seven ships passing through in a 24-hour period, Reuters reported.<\/a><\/p>\n Trump, however, projected optimism Thursday about the weekend negotiations in Islamabad \u2014 even as the U.S. position appeared to weaken.<\/p>\n \u201cI spoke with Bibi and he\u2019s going to low-key it. I just think we have to be sort of a little more low-key,\u201d Trump said in an interview with NBC News.<\/a> He said he was \u201cvery optimistic\u201d that a deal with Iran was in reach.<\/p>\n A White House official said Vice President JD Vance will lead the U.S. delegation, which will also include special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president\u2019s son-in-law. They would be the highest-level talks between the United States and Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.<\/p>\n An Israeli official said the separate talks with Lebanon, to be conducted by the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to Washington, would start next week at the State Department. A State Department official confirmed the agency would host the talks.<\/p>\n Israel is not a direct party to the weekend negotiations in Pakistan between the U.S. and Iran. But \u201cthe United States knows our red lines in terms of nuclear disarmament, proxies, ballistic missile production,\u201d the Israeli official said. \u201cWe believe we\u2019re on the same page here.\u201d<\/p>\n The Tuesday night ceasefire deal between the United States and Iran came after 39 days of conflict in the region, set off by Trump\u2019s Feb. 28 attack on Iran. The full terms have not been publicly disclosed, and much remains uncertain about the agreement. <\/p>\n The agreement got off to a shaky start<\/a> Wednesday: The strait remained restricted as the Iranians accused Americans of violating the agreement and it emerged that the U.S. and Israel were at odds with Iran over whether Lebanon was part of the ceasefire.<\/p>\n Trump threatened late Wednesday on his social media website that if Iran did not comply with the ceasefire, \u201cthen the \u2018Shootin\u2019 Starts,\u2019 bigger, and better, and stronger than anyone has ever seen before.\u201d<\/p>\n The deal\u2019s status became even more fragile as Thursday dawned and Iran said Israeli strikes in Lebanon overnight violated the agreement. European leaders and the prime minister of Pakistan, which is brokering U.S.-Iran talks, warned that the operations could be putting the truce at risk.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a dangerous sign of deception and lack of commitment to potential agreements,\u201d Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said<\/a> Thursday. \u201cThe continuation of these actions will render negotiations meaningless.\u201d<\/p>\n