UN In Lebanon Warns Israel, Hezbollah That It Could 'Return Fire'
The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) on April 5 warned that attacks by Israel and Hezbollah near its positions "could potentially draw return fire."
UNIFIL said it was "extremely concerned" about attacks from both sides "carried out from near our positions, which could potentially draw return fire."
It urged them to "put down their weapons and work seriously toward a cease-fire."
UNIFIL has said that three of its peacekeepers have been killed since the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran.
Israel has also struck Tehran-backed Hezbollah -- deemed a terrorist organization by Israel and the United States -- across its border inside Lebanon.
UNIFIL is a peacekeeping mission in south Lebanon, established by the Security Council in 1978. Its mandate is to monitor the cessation of hostilities, among other tasks. UNIFIL says it has some 8,500 peacekeepers from nearly 50 troop-contributing countries.
Iranian Delegation To Arrive Today In Pakistan
Iran's ambassador to Pakistan, Reza Amiri Moghadam, says the Iranian delegation will arrive in Islamabad late on April 9, ahead of what he described as "serious talks" with the American side.
"Despite skepticism of Iranian public opinion due to repeated cease-fire violations by Israeli regime ... Iranian delegation arrives tonight in Islamabad for serious talks based on 10 points proposed by Iran," he wrote in a post on X.
Trump Says All Military Will Stay In Place Until 'Real Agreement' Reached
US President Donald Trump said in a social media post late on April 8 that all US ships, aircraft, and military personnel would remain in and around Iran until "such time as the REAL AGREEMENT reached is fully complied with."
"All U.S. Ships, Aircraft, and Military Personnel, with additional Ammunition, Weaponry, and anything else that is appropriate and necessary for the lethal prosecution and destruction of an already substantially degraded Enemy, will remain in place in, and around, Iran, until such time as the REAL AGREEMENT reached is fully complied with," he wrote on Truth Social.
"If for any reason it is not, which is highly unlikely, then the “Shootin’ Starts,” bigger, and better, and stronger than anyone has ever seen before. It was agreed, a long time ago, and despite all of the fake rhetoric to the contrary - NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS and, the Strait of Hormuz WILL BE OPEN & SAFE. In the meantime our great Military is Loading Up and Resting, looking forward, actually, to its next Conquest. AMERICA IS BACK!"
Shortly before that, Trump wrote that published reports about Iran's 10-point peace plan were "totally fake."
"The Failing New York Times and Fake News CNN each reported a totally FAKE TEN POINT PLAN on the Iran negotiations which was meant to discredit the people involved in the peace process. All ten points were a made up HOAX - EVIL LOSERS!!! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN," he wrote in a separate post.
Greek PM Says Iranian Toll For Hormuz Passage 'Unacceptable'
The Greek prime minister criticized Iran's efforts to charge a fee to allow shipping through the Strait of Hormuz once the war ends, saying the world needs free and secure shipping through the crucial water.
"I don't think that the international community would be ready to accept Iran setting up a toll booth for every ship that crosses the strait," Kyriakos Mitsotakis told CNN on April 8. "It seems to me to be completely unacceptable."
Mitsotakis said an international agreement on the strait might be necessary, but he insisted that it must not involve fees.
"We would be setting a very, very dangerous precedent if that were to happen for the freedom of navigation," he warned.
Greece has one of the world's largest merchant vessel fleets.
Germany also said a toll for Hormuz passage was not acceptable. A Foreign Ministry spokesman said the strait is not solely in Iranian waters and is governed by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
IRGC Sets Alternative Hormuz Routes To Avoid Sea Mines
Iran's hard-line Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) on April 9 announced alternative routes for ships traveling through the crucial Strait of Hormuz, pointing to the risk of mines in the main zone of the waterway.
"All ships intending to transit the Strait of Hormuz are hereby notified that in order to comply with the principles of maritime safety and to be protected from possible collisions with sea mines...they should take alternative routes for traffic in the Strait of Hormuz," the IRGC was quoted by state media as saying in a statement that also provided instructions for an alternative entry and exit routes.
Washington and Tehran have agreed to a two-week cease-fire to allow further negotiations to take place for a potential peace deal.
One of the US administration's main demands is freedom of ship traffic through the strait, which Iran has largely blocked. Tehran has said it will begin allowing traffic, although it insists ships must coordinate with the Iranian military.
Some 20 percent of the world's crude oil and natural gas supplies are transported on ships through the strait.
Trump Blasts NATO After Meeting With Alliance Chief Rutte
US President Donald Trump again blasted NATO, saying alliance members weren't there "when we needed them," shortly after he met in Washington with Secretary-General Mark Rutte.
"NATO wasn't there when we needed them, and they won't be there if we need them again. Remember Greenland, that big, poorly run, piece of Ice!!!" Trump posted on Truth Social in all capital letters on April 8.
Trump has long complained about the 77-year-old transatlantic alliance -- of which the United States has been the dominant partner from the start -- saying it is outdated and that members do not pay their fair share for their defense.
He has intensified his criticism since the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran, saying the alliance did not help the United States when it was needed.
Many alliance members say they weren't consulted before the start of the war or weren't asked to contribute. Some countries, such as Italy, Spain, and Britain -- where US bases are located -- expressed reluctance to allow the military facilities on their territory to be used for offensive military operations against Iran.
Trump has also expressed demands to bring Greenland under American sovereignty and sought out NATO's help in having the island transferred from alliance member Denmark's ownership to that of the United States.
The demand has raised tensions within the alliance, with members criticizing Trump's remarks and standing behind Demark's ownership.
NATO chief Rutte told CNN after the meeting with Trump that the discussions were "frank and open" but that Trump expressed disappointment with US NATO allies.
Rutte said he told the US president that "a large majority" of European countries had been helpful to the US military effort in the war with Iran.
"Well, let me be absolutely clear, [Trump] is clearly disappointed and with many NATO allies, and I can see his point," Rutte said.
"But at the same time, I was able to point to the fact that the large majority of European nations have been helpful with basing, with logistics, with overflights, with making sure that they live up to [their] commitments."
Rutte added that "there is also widespread support for the fact that degrading the nuclear- and...ballistic-missile capacity for Iran was really crucial, and that only the US was able at this point to do that."
Asked if Trump had repeated during the meeting his suggestion that the United States could leave NATO, Rutte said: "Well, as I said, there is a disappointment, clearly, but at the same time, he was also listening careful to my arguments of what's happening, and I also pointed him to the fact that it was his leadership which brought about the Hague spending commitment."
On April 1, Trump told Reuters he was "absolutely" considering withdrawing the United States from NATO for what he considers the alliance's lack of support for US objectives in Iran.
In an interview with the British newspaper The Telegraph, he called the military alliance a “paper tiger” and said leaving NATO was “beyond reconsideration.”
Experts say it is not clear whether Trump could unilaterally pull the United States out of the transatlantic alliance without congressional approval.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump is considering a plan to punish some NATO members that he believes were unhelpful to US and Israeli forces during the Iran war.
Citing unnamed administration officials, the WSJ said proposals would involve moving US troops out of NATO member countries deemed unhelpful to the war effort and base them instead in countries that were more supportive of the US military campaign.
In Separate Calls, Macron Tells Trump, Pezeshkian Cease-Fire Must Include Lebanon
French President Emmanuel Macron said he spoke separately with Iranian President Massud Pezeshkian and US leader Donald Trump, telling them both that "their decision to accept a cease-fire was the best one possible."
He also said he wanted the cease-fire to cover all areas of conflict, including Lebanon, where Israel has continued to strike at sites of Hezbollah, the Iran-backed group that has been deemed a terrorist organization by Israel and the United States.
"I expressed my hope that the cease-fire will be fully respected by each of the belligerents, across all areas of confrontation, including in Lebanon. This is a necessary condition for the ceasefire to be credible and lasting," Macron wrote on X.
"Any agreement will have to address the concerns raised by Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs, as well as its regional policy and its actions obstructing navigation through the Strait of Hormuz."
Macron said he also held discussions with the leaders of Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, and Iraq.
A temporary truce between the United States and Iran wobbled less than a day after being agreed as Israel launched massive attacks on Iranian proxies in Lebanon, while Tehran launched strikes at oil centers in several Persian Gulf countries after claiming its energy facilities were targeted.
Vance Says Iran Misunderstood Truce Deal, Israel Has Offered To Show Restraint In Lebanon
US Vice President JD Vance said he suspects Iran misunderstood the terms of the cease-fire deal reached with Pakistan’s mediation, believing that the truce included Lebanon when it did not.
In comments to reporters on an airport tarmac in Budapest before a flight back to the United States on April 8, Vance also repeated that Iran must open the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil and gas transport artery, to shipping.
“I urge the Iranians to come to the table seriously,” said Vance, who is to lead the US delegation at planned talks in Islamabad on April 10, warning that if Tehran violates the agreement, it will see “serious consequences.”
Among the key aspects of the deal, he said, was that the United States agreed to a cease-fire and negotiations and Iran agreed to open the Strait of Hormuz, that Tehran essentially blocked after the US and Israel launched air strikes on Iran on February 28.
Vance spoke amid questions over whether the agreement reached by the United States and Iran late on April 7 will hold, with signs that shipping through the strait is heavily restricted, amid Iranian claims that the deal has been violated, in part by major Israeli attacks on Lebanon. Iran’s Press TV reported late on April 8 that the waterway was fully closed.
"I think this comes from a legitimate misunderstanding. I think the Iranians thought that the cease-fire included Lebanon, and it just didn't," Vance said. "If Iran wants to let this negotiation fall apart... over Lebanon…that's ultimately their choice," he said.
Without providing details, he said: “The Israelis, as I understand it...have actually offered to, frankly, to check themselves a little bit in Lebanon, because they want to make sure that our negotiation is successful."
Heavy Israeli Strikes On Lebanon Add Uncertainty Hours After US-Iran Cease-Fire Deal
Lebanese officials say dozens of people have been killed in the heaviest Israeli strikes on the country since the war in Iran broke out five weeks ago.
The strikes on April 8, which a Lebanese Health Ministry spokesman told Reuters killed 89 people and wounded 700 others, came amid contradictory claims about whether the Pakistan-brokered US-Iranian agreement on a two-week cease-fire included Lebanon.
The strikes, which Israel’s military said targeted over 100 command centers and military sites of the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in Beirut, the Bekaa Valley, and southern Lebanon, appeared to threaten the cease-fire agreement reached late on April 7 and shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, which resumed under the deal after being blocked by Iran for weeks.
Citing an Iranian ministry statement, AFP reported that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi “discussed [Israel’s] violations of the cease-fire in Iran and Lebanon" with a senior Pakistani military leader on April 8.
Iran’s Tasnim news agency cited an unnamed source as saying Iran would withdraw from the cease-fire agreement if Israel continues to attack Lebanon. Fars, a semi-official Iranian news agency, reported that Iran halted oil tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz over the Israeli bombardments.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said the cease-fire agreement included Lebanon, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it did not.
A White House correspondent for US public broadcaster PBS said on X that US President Donald Trump told her on April 8 that Lebanon was “not included in the deal” because of the presence there of Hezbollah, which has been designated by the United States as a terror group.
UPDATE: Lebanon's Health Ministry said the Israeli strikes on April 8 killed 182 people and wounded 890, adding that the updated toll was not final.
With reporting by Reuters and AFP
Pakistani PM Warns Of Truce Violations Less Than A Day After Its Agreement
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has noted violations of the temporary truce between the United States and Iran and warned all parties involved in the conflict to respect the two-week cease-fire to allow a chance for a diplomatic solution to end the war. "Violations of cease-fire have been reported at few places across the conflict zone which undermine the spirit of peace process. I earnestly and sincerely urge all parties to exercise restraint and respect the cease-fire for two weeks, as agreed upon, so that diplomacy can take a lead role towards peaceful settlement of the conflict," he said in a social media post on April 8, a day after the truce was agreed. He did not elaborate on the violations, but several Gulf states have said they were the targets of Iran-launched ordinance. Tehran claimed it launched attacks on Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates after air strikes targeted oil facilities on Iran's Lavan island. The United States and Iran agreed to the two-week cease-fire late on April 7.
Ships Begin Moving Through Key Strait As Fragile US-Iran Truce Holds
A fragile cease-fire appeared to be holding hours after being agreed to by the United States and Iran, with ships moving through the Strait of Hormuz and heavy bombing runs halted for the first time in more than a month.
The straight is a key shipping lane through which some 20 percent of the world's oil and gas passes. According to data from maritime monitor Marine Traffic, two ships had already passed through the waterway by midday on April 8.
"Early signs of vessel activity are emerging in the Strait of Hormuz following a ceasefire announcement, which includes a temporary reopening of the strategic waterway to allow for negotiations," the monitor said in a post on X, noting a Greek-owned bulk carrier and a Liberian-flagged vessel had already crossed through the strait.
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