Hezbollah rejection clouds Lebanon ceasefire and prospects for ending Iran war
Ceasefire Developments and Regional Implications
By Jana Choukeir and Laila Bassam
Hezbollah's Stance and U.S. Mediation Efforts
DUBAI/BEIRUT, June 4 (Reuters) - The Iran-backed Hezbollah militia rejected a new ceasefire in Lebanon on Thursday and Israel said it would not withdraw troops from the country, undermining U.S. President Donald Trump's efforts to halt fighting there and forge peace with Tehran.
Iran has made a ceasefire in Lebanon a condition for any peace deal with Washington, and has suggested in recent days that it could intervene directly if Israel keeps up attacks there.
Hezbollah's Rejection of the Ceasefire
However, Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem rejected a U.S.-brokered pact between Israel and the Lebanese government to halt the fighting. Hezbollah had not been party to the negotiations. There was no immediate response from Israel or Lebanon.
U.S. and Israeli Responses
In Washington, Trump told reporters he believed progress was being made in Lebanon and the country deserved to have peace, adding, "It's been going on for a long time, you know."
Israel kept up strikes in southern Lebanon, however, and Defence Minister Israel Katz said its forces would not withdraw or halt operations in the country, which they invaded in March in parallel with the Iran war.
The commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Quds Force, which established Hezbollah in 1982, said Israel must at a minimum withdraw to positions it held before the war began.
Escalation Across the Region
Continued Violence Despite Ceasefires
MORE MODERATE SHOOTING
Along with Lebanon, residents of Gaza, northern Israel and Kuwait have all been under fire this week, despite U.S.-arranged ceasefires that Trump said on Wednesday involved "shooting in a more moderate manner," rather than a total halt to fighting.
Clashes in the Gulf and Beyond
Iranian and U.S. forces traded attacks in the Gulf on Wednesday in one of the most intense bouts of fighting since early April, when a ceasefire halted large-scale hostilities.
Iranian forces struck Kuwait's airport, killing one person and injuring more than 60, authorities said, while the U.S. military launched strikes near the Strait of Hormuz.
In Oman, an alleged drone attack forced the suspension of oil loading at the Mina al Fahal terminal after an explosion, two people familiar with the matter said on Friday.
Impact on Oil and Energy Markets
A fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies go through the strait in normal times, but it has been largely closed since the war began three months ago.
Iranian oil exports have fallen to their lowest in six years, shipping data show, but global oil prices fell about 3% on hopes that the Lebanon ceasefire could help Washington and Iran find a diplomatic off-ramp from their war.
Diplomatic and Political Repercussions
Stalled Diplomacy and U.S. Domestic Pressures
There has been little evidence of diplomatic progress, though Trump has repeatedly declared since late March that a deal is close.
Trump, under pressure at home to bring down fuel prices ahead of November's congressional elections, received a rare rebuke from the House of Representatives on Wednesday, when it voted to block him from continuing the war, a largely symbolic gesture as Trump is unlikely to sign it into law.
Iranian Leadership and Strategic Demands
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said on Thursday that Iran's enemies had already been defeated on the battlefield and were now seeking to sow internal divisions.
Khamenei has not been seen in public since he succeeded his father, who was killed in an airstrike at the start of the war.
Tehran wants access to billions of dollars in oil revenue, waivers on sanctions on crude exports, a lifting of a U.S. blockade on its ports and leverage over the strait.
Nuclear Program and International Oversight
U.S. Position on Iran's Nuclear Ambitions
Trump, who has said his top priority is to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, told reporters Washington did not need a deal with Iran to get enriched uranium from the country.
"I don't think they could stop us if we wanted, but there's no reason to," he said in the Oval Office. "It's entombed."
Iran's Nuclear Claims and U.N. Assessment
Iran says its atomic program is for peaceful purposes.
The U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Thursday it found Iran's nuclear program largely unchanged despite three months of war.
(Reporting by Reuters bureaus; Writing by Andy Sullivan, Ros Russell and Clarence Fernandez; Editing by Peter Graff, Andrew Cawthorne, Cynthia Osterman and Kate Mayberry)
