Mena Today

Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday said Tehran's negotiators thought the U.S.-Iran ceasefire agreed to on Tuesday included Lebanon, but the U.S. had in fact not agreed to that.

The Israeli military took an unusual step on Wednesday, addressing the Lebanese people directly through a message delivered by Avichay Adraee, spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces to Arab media.

The Speaker of the Arab Parliament, Mohammed bin Ahmed Al Yamahi, has issued a sharp condemnation of Iran's continued missile and drone attacks against Arab Gulf states, attacks he says have persisted even after the ceasefire agreement reached between Washington and Tehran.

Israel launched a massive surprise assault on Hezbollah across Lebanon on Wednesday, striking what Defence Minister Israel Katz described as "hundreds" of the group's members in command centres throughout the country. 

The top U.S. general said on Wednesday U.S. troops stood ready to resume fighting if Tehran failed to strike a negotiated settlement as the Trump administration sought to portray the war as a decisive victory against Iran.

Iranian authorities see the truce with the United States and Israel as a strategic victory, but they emerge battered and isolated with an economy in tatters, little prospect of rapid recovery and an impoverished, embittered population.

The United States, Israel and Iran have agreed to a two-week ceasefire, reached with Pakistani mediation, and U.S. and Iranian officials are expected to hold talks on Friday to discuss a long-term settlement.

Let us be clear from the outset. The two-week ceasefire brokered between the United States and Iran - with Israel as the silent third party and Pakistan as the unlikely intermediary - will not lead to peace. 

U.S. President Donald Trump is "impatient" about making progress toward ending the Iran war and has instructed his negotiating team to engage the Iranians in good faith, Vice President JD Vance said on Wednesday.

The ink was barely dry on the US-Iran ceasefire when the contradictions began piling up.

The calls came within hours of each other. Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares declared it "unacceptable" that Israel continues fighting in Lebanon following the US-Iran truce.