On President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday, he had big plans. At home, the White House will host a UFC fight on the South Lawn. Abroad, Trump said he would be signing a ceasefire agreement with Iran.
But Lebanon has always been a key part of that ceasefire, and the fighting just flared at a critical moment. Iran has demanded a ceasefire in Lebanon as part of a broader regional agreement. Yet the fighting there has continued unabated, and today, it escalated once again.
The Israeli military carried out strikes on the Dahiyeh neighborhood of Beirut after Hezbollah fire crossed into northern Israel. The last time Israel struck Beirut, it led to direct Iranian ballistic missile fire again.
That threat from Tehran remains. Iran’s chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said on social media after the strike that America “either lacks the will to fulfill its commitments or the ability to do so.”
When Trump announced the last Lebanon ceasefire earlier this month, he said on social media that “Israel will not attack (Hezbollah), and they will not attack Israel.”
That equation has fallen apart. On Sunday, Trump downplayed the Hezbollah attacks on Israel, calling them “meaningless,” while calling for “no more attacks by Israel anywhere in Lebanon.” But it’s a demand he’s made before after the April ceasefire, and it didn’t last long.
At least in public statements, Iran sees little difference between the US and Israel. Would Iran sign a deal with the US right after Israel struck its Beirut? Iran was never quite as bullish as the US when it came to the imminent signing of an agreement.
And another escalation in Lebanon — one which Tehran had previously vowed would lead to an Iranian response — makes it more likely that what were already complicated negotiations between the US and Iran just got harder.
