A two-week ceasefire in the Iran war, announced only two days ago, showed signs of strain on Thursday, one day after Israel launched its largest civilian bombing campaign against Lebanon, causing Iran to warn it would withdraw from the ceasefire agreement.
Israel’s “Operation Eternal Darkness” killed at least 254 people across Lebanon on Wednesday, with 100 airstrikes recorded within the span of just 10 minutes. The majority of casualties were in Beirut and its southern suburbs. Israel bombed a nine story residential building in Beirut’s Tallet al-Khayyat neighborhood, trapping residents under rubble. Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that one Israeli air strike targeted a funeral service at a cemetery in the Beqaa Valley region, killing at least 10 people.
In an X post Thursday morning, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel would continue its bombing of Lebanon.
Tasnim News Agency, citing a source, reported that Iran is “currently considering the possibility of exiting the ceasefire agreement” due to ongoing Israeli actions in Lebanon, adding that the Iranian Armed Forces were simultaneously identifying targets for a response. “If the US cannot leash its rabid dog in the region, Iran will exceptionally assist it in this matter, and that will be through force,” the source said.
Iran’s Speaker of Parliament Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, in a post on X, said Wednesday that the U.S. had violated its commitments before talks had even begun, citing three specific breaches of Iran’s 10-point plan that Trump had formally accepted as the basis for negotiations on Tuesday evening. Those breaches included Israel’s continued strikes on Lebanon, the entry of an Israeli drone into Iranian airspace, and the refusal of the U.S. to accept Iran’s right to enrich uranium. Ghalibaf affirmed on Thursday morning that for Iran, “Lebanon and the entire Resistance Axis” form “an inseparable part of the ceasefire,” citing the 10-point proposal, and warned that “ceasefire violations carry explicit costs and STRONG responses.”
Departing Hungary on Wednesday, Vice President JD Vance dismissed Iranian objections over Lebanon, saying Washington had never included it in the ceasefire terms. “If Iran wants to let this negotiation fall apart, in a conflict where they were getting hammered over Lebanon, which has nothing to do with them,” he said, “that’s ultimately their choice. We think that would be dumb, but that’s their choice.”
President Donald Trump warned Thursday that U.S. forces would remain deployed in and around Iran and were prepared to take military action if the deal collapsed. Trump said on Truth Social that if the agreement is not complied with “then the ‘Shootin’ Starts,’ bigger, and better, and stronger than anyone has ever seen before.”
The UAE said Thursday that Iranian aerial attacks had paused, with its defense ministry saying its airspace had been “free of any air threats” for several hours.
The ceasefire has failed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Four vessels were tracked passing through the Strait on Wednesday, down from 11 the day before, according to ship tracking data. Over 130 vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz per day before U.S.–Israeli attacks caused Iran to exert control over the waterway.
The European Commission asked Iran on Thursday to abandon its policy of charging ships a fee to transit the Strait of Hormuz, saying international law guarantees freedom of navigation and the waterway is “a public good for all humanity.”
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh said in an interview with ITV News on Thursday that due to mines Iran deployed throughout the Strait of Hormuz during the war, all vessels must now coordinate with Iran to be guided along safe routes. “We have to be very careful for the safety and security of tankers and vessels,” he said, adding that mines “take time to be removed,” and that vessels should communicate with Iranian authorities, who have “maps” of those obstacles.
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