The newly reached two-week ceasefire between Washington and Tehran, a fragile diplomatic breakthrough meant to de-escalate spiraling tensions across the Middle East, faced imminent collapse on Wednesday, as Iran issued stark threats to resume hostilities following Israel’s massive bombardment campaign against neighboring Lebanon.
Just 24 hours after the truce was finalized, forged under a tight deadline set by former U.S. President Donald Trump to end a months-long conflict that has claimed thousands of lives and disrupted global economic stability, both sides had initially celebrated the agreement as a victory, paving the way for scheduled negotiations in the coming days. However, cracks in the deal emerged almost immediately when Israel launched its most intense wave of strikes on Lebanon since the Iran-aligned militant group Hezbollah entered the conflict in early March. The bombardment targeted multiple locations across the country, including densely populated neighborhoods in central Beirut.
Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health confirmed that by the end of Wednesday, at least 182 people had been killed in the attacks, with nearly 900 more sustaining injuries. Since Israel expanded its military operations to include airstrikes and a ground invasion of southern Lebanon last month, local Lebanese officials report the death toll from the campaign has surpassed 1,700.
Israeli officials quickly asserted that their offensive against Hezbollah falls outside the scope of the U.S.-Iran truce, a position that was echoed by U.S. Vice President JD Vance, who is set to lead upcoming negotiations with Iranian delegates in Pakistan in just a few days. “If Iran wants to let this negotiation fall apart… over Lebanon, which has nothing to do with them, and which the United States never once said was part of the ceasefire, that’s ultimately their choice,” Vance stated Wednesday.
But Iran’s top parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, pushed back against this framing, warning in a post on X that the core foundation for upcoming talks had already been broken, rendering continued diplomatic engagement “unreasonable.” Compounding the uncertainty, a senior U.S. administration official confirmed that the 10-point framework Iran has publicly outlined for the ceasefire does not match the terms the White House had previously agreed to, deepening rifts between the two sides.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards issued a fresh warning Wednesday, promising that the country would “fulfil our duty and deliver a response” if Israel does not immediately halt its strikes on Lebanon, while Hezbollah reiterated that it retains an “absolute right” to retaliate for the attacks. U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth mirrored the belligerent tone, saying American military forces remain on high alert and fully prepared to respond if the broader conflict reignites.
The diplomatic drama unfolded just days ahead of the high-stakes negotiation session scheduled to kick off Friday in Islamabad. As part of the preliminary ceasefire deal, Iran had agreed to temporarily reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for global oil supplies, after Trump threatened military action if the waterway remained closed. Commercial vessels did traverse the strait earlier Wednesday, but multiple regional reports later indicated Iran had shut down the waterway again despite the ceasefire agreement, prompting the White House to issue an urgent demand that Tehran “immediately, quickly and safely” reopen it.
In a further blow to hopes that the truce would hold, Iranian state media announced Wednesday that the country had launched new “missile and drone attacks” targeting Gulf Arab states that are allied with the United States. The strikes were framed as retaliation for recent airstrikes against Iranian oil facilities, adding yet another volatile layer to an already rapidly deteriorating situation across the region.