WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Sunday threatened to strike Iran if it did not "immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble," as peace talks started in Switzerland.
Trump was referring to Hezbollah, which joined the Middle East war with attacks on Israel. Clashes in recent days between the two have threatened to derail the US-Iran preliminary peace deal.
"If they don’t, we’ll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder!!!" Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.
This comes at the time when the United States and Iran were holding talks in Switzerland after signing a preliminary agreement to end their war.
American and Iranian representatives gathered alongside delegations from mediators Pakistan and Qatar at the luxury Swiss resort of Burgenstock perched high above Lake Lucerne, with Doha confirming in the afternoon that the four-way talks had begun.
Yet the talks to end the months-long conflict are taking place against the backdrop of Iran closing the strategic Strait of Hormuz again in response to Israel's attacks on Lebanon, where its war with Hezbollah has flared despite a new ceasefire.
Washington and Tehran's memorandum of understanding signed earlier in June extended the truce in the war that began in late February with US-Israeli strikes on Iran. It included a provision to end fighting in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah.
But there have been repeated clashes in Lebanon since, which prompted Iran to say it would again shutter the crucial oil and gas trade route, having opened it as part of the deal.
By Sunday afternoon, however, there had been no reports of Israeli strikes or continued fighting in Lebanon since the day before.
Israel insisted on Sunday, though, that its troops would stay inside what it calls a "security zone" in southern Lebanon and respond to any threats, despite the US-Iran deal.
