Iran’s control of the Strait of Hormuz might give it enough leverage to pressure Israel into agreeing to a ceasefire in Lebanon, an unnamed senior Hezbollah official told Al Jazeera. The source said Iran wanted to include Lebanon in its interim ceasefire agreement with the United States and Israel during the peace talks in Pakistan.
Israel’s top general, however, has approved plans for continuing strikes in Lebanon.
Eyal Zamir, Israeli military chief, said that the US and Israeli strikes have crippled Iranian defensive capabilities.
“Now we must not allow them any achievements on the nuclear issue, in Hormuz and in the other matters on the table. We know how to scramble them for an immediate, powerful strike,” he said.
“We are capturing and clearing key areas and removing threats from the northern settlements,” he said on Israel’s Lebanon campaign.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week agreed to hold direct talks with Lebanon but rejected the possibility of a ceasefire.
Two days after the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran, the Tehran-backed militant group, Hezbollah, fired missiles across the border. The Israeli military responded with an intense bombing campaign and ground invasion. Per authorities in Lebanon, over 2,000 people have been killed in Israel’s strikes.
Since the US attack, Iran has been controlling the Strait of Hormuz, a maritime chokepoint vital for the world’s energy supplies from the Middle East. Tehran has also announced that it will exact a toll for allowing safe passage to merchant ships. The US, which has effected a blockade at the Strait, has warned that it will interdict in international waters any vessel that pays a toll to Iran.
Reports say Lebanese officials were angered by Hezbollah’s decision to enter a new war, prompting the government to criminalise the group’s military activities.
Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun offered direct negotiations with Israel – the first in decades – in exchange for a cessation of hostilities.
Netanyahu accepted the invitation for direct talks after the announcement of an interim truce between Iran and the United States.
Iran reportedly told Israel and the US that any permanent ceasefire should include the cessation of hostilities in Lebanon as well.
Israel, however, has dismissed Lebanon’s inclusion in the ceasefire.
The direct talks between Lebanon and Israel kicked off on Tuesday, as the nations’ ambassadors to the United States met in Washington.
Lebanon’s demands include the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon, the release of Lebanese prisoners held in Israel, the return of the displaced, and reconstruction.
Israel has structured the engagement as peace talks, focusing on disarming Iran-backed Hezbollah.
US President Donald Trump said last week that the US-Iran-Israel peace talks in Islamabad failed because of Tehran’s insistence on holding on to its nuclear ambitions. He claimed Iran told the US negotiators that it had laid mines in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz, virtually making it impossible to cross the chokepoint.