Lebanon part of Iran-US truce deal: Pakistani ambassador to Washington

The Pakistani ambassador to Washington has stressed that Lebanon is included in the ceasefire agreement reached through his country’s mediation between Iran and the United States.

Rizwan Saeed Sheikh made the remarks in an interview with CNN on Wednesday, hours after Israel waged its largest military attack against Lebanon in recent weeks, killing at least 254 people and wounding 1,165 others. The criminal assault violated the US-Iran truce deal that also called for a cessation of hostilities in Lebanon.

He said that the ceasefire agreement announced by Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, which included Lebanon, “could not have been more authentic” to what the two parties agreed to, and that it was still the premier’s understanding that Lebanon was included.

The Pakistani envoy added that the Israeli strike on Lebanon was another instance in which a ceasefire “could be disrupted” by Israel’s actions.

“There have been instances in the past where ceasefires have been disrupted,” he noted, referring to Israel’s routine violations of its previous ceasefire with Lebanon and the current one that ended the regime’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.

The United States and Israel launched their illegal act of aggression against Iran on February 28. They assassinated Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and struck nuclear sites, schools, hospitals and civilian infrastructure.

Iran’s decisive Operation True Promise 4 was launched in retaliation, with hundreds of missiles and drones pounding targets in the Israeli‑occupied territories as well as US military bases and assets across the region.

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) announced on Wednesday an agreement to a Pakistan-brokered two-week ceasefire after the US accepted Iran’s 10-point proposal, potentially followed by negotiations to effectively end the war.

Sharif announced that “Iran and the United States of America, along with their allies, have agreed to an immediate ceasefire everywhere, including Lebanon and elsewhere, EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY.”

However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that the truce “does not include Lebanon.” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also backed the Israeli position, contradicting statements by Tehran and Islamabad.

Janet Abou-Elias, a researcher with the Democratizing Foreign Policy program at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, said that Israel was largely sidelined from the Iran-US ceasefire talks that culminated in an agreement viewed as “catastrophic” by the regime.

“What we’ve seen since looks like Israel acting to undermine a diplomatic process over which it had lost influence,” she told Common Dreams.

The researcher further emphasized that Israel’s attack on Lebanon “appeared to be a direct attempt to blow up the ceasefire, and it worked.”

“At this point, any durable end to this conflict, even a temporary one, requires Washington to rein in Israel,” Abou-Elias said. “[US President Donald] Trump has the leverage to do it. What’s unclear is whether he has the political will to use it.”

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