President Donald Trump suggested on Thursday that the United States and Iran were “very close” to an agreement and claimed that Tehran was willing to part with its enriched uranium, a major demand from Washington.
“We are very close to reaching an agreement with Iran,” the American president told reporters at the White House, adding that he would consider going to Pakistan, which is acting as a mediator, if a signing materializes.
“There are very good chances that we will reach an agreement,” he insisted.
“They have agreed to return to us the nuclear dust,” assured Donald Trump without further detail, using the term he employs to refer to stocks of enriched uranium, one of the key American demands to reach an agreement.
The Islamic Republic did not immediately confirm this statement.
Furthermore, on Thursday Donald Trump announced a ten-day ceasefire on the Lebanese front, which came into effect at 5:00 PM. This truce, agreed upon by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, includes the Lebanese Hezbollah, a pro-Iranian Shiite movement, according to the American president.
Historic First?
On the other hand, Israel threatened Iran with “even more painful” strikes if it refuses to comply with the demands of the United States, especially concerning nuclear armament.
In Washington, the House of Representatives rejected once again on Thursday an initiative from Democratic deputies who wanted to force Donald Trump to obtain Congressional approval to potentially continue hostilities against Iran.
France announced on Thursday evening that around thirty participants would attend on Friday a video conference co-chaired by Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, aiming to establish a security mission in the Strait of Hormuz when conditions allow.
The two parties in Lebanon want peace, and I believe that it will happen quickly,” commented Donald Trump, inviting the Israeli and Lebanese leaders to meet at the White House “in the next four or five days,” a first at this level of representation between the two countries since 1993.
The Lebanese have committed to taking “concrete measures to prevent” any Hezbollah attack against Israel as part of the truce, according to American diplomacy.
An exchange of fire
If he sees it as an opportunity for “historic peace” with Beirut, Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his demand for disarmament of Hezbollah as a prerequisite and indicated that the Israeli army would maintain its presence “in the south [of Lebanon] in a border strip ten kilometers deep.”
In the hours leading up to the ceasefire, Israel and Hezbollah exchanged new cross-border fire. The Israeli army announced that it had struck Hezbollah rocket launchers after two people were injured, one seriously, by gunfire towards the north of the country, according to an Israeli Red Cross equivalent.
Earlier in the day, at least seven people were killed and 33 injured in an Israeli strike on the village of Ghazieh in southern Lebanon, according to authorities.
Since Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war in early March when Hezbollah targeted Israel to support Iran, Israeli strikes on Lebanon have resulted in over 2000 deaths and a million displaced people.
