Tanks cross the Strait of Hormuz after the Iran deal is signed, while Israel attacks Lebanon
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Three tankers owned by Saudi Arabia carrying six million barrels of crude oil sailed through the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, hours after US President Donald Trump signed a deal with Iran to end a war that has disrupted global energy supplies.
But in Lebanon, where more than a million people have been displaced by the fighting, the Israeli military launched new airstrikes on Thursday morning, raising doubts about how far Trump will go to force his wartime allies to halt the attacks he has promised to end.
Trump put his signature on Wednesday to a memorandum of understanding to end the war, as did Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, which took effect two days earlier than previously expected. There is a need to immediately open the Strait of Hormuz and end the US blockade of Iranian ports.
Although ship captains say it will take time for transit across the strait to reach pre-war levels, there is an immediate need to ensure safe access and mine clearance, with immediate signs of impact.
Ships that might have been hiding their positions by turning off their transponders were now broadcasting their positions, ready to pass on the road.
US President Donald Trump has praised the 14-point cooperation agreement agreed with Iran to end military operations and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, despite ambiguity on many issues.
Benchmark Brent crude futures prices fell 2 percent to less than $78 US a barrel, the lowest since the shooting began.
The US-Iranian memorandum starts the clock on a 60-day negotiation period to reach a final war deal, which Trump presented in February with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
It calls for an end to the war in Lebanon
But Israel, which launched an offensive in March and retook large swathes of southern Lebanon in pursuit of Hezbollah militants who opened fire across the border in support of Iran, was not included in the talks.
Iran has always said that any peace deal must include Lebanon. In what appears to be a major concession to Iran, the memorandum signed by Trump clearly calls for a “permanent end” to the war in Lebanon and for its “territorial integrity and sovereignty” to be guaranteed.
Since Lebanon is among the most critical problems of the peace effort, Trump in recent days has openly criticized the work of his colleagues there, accusing Israel of destroying all buildings unnecessarily to hit Hezbollah fighters.
Two Israeli officials, including a senior official close to Netanyahu, told Reuters on Thursday that Israel is holding talks with the United States as it seeks to continue deploying troops in southern Lebanon.
While fighting in Lebanon subsided earlier this week when Trump first announced that a deal had been reached, it picked up again a few days ago, continuing Thursday morning after Trump signed it.
Lebanese state media reported airstrikes and gunfire in southern cities, killing at least one person in a car. Reuters reporters heard a special Israeli plane flying down over Beirut and its southern suburbs.
“Iran and the Americans are done. That’s right. Lebanon is not over yet,” said Mohammed Doghman, a man who was driven from the southern city of Nabatieh to Beirut, sitting outside his tent on Thursday, staring intently at his phone to read the news.
“They have to give us the final answer: Is the war over, or will we go back to it again?”
A senior Israeli official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive talks, told Reuters that Israel was “conducting tough negotiations” with Washington over the continued deployment of troops in southern Lebanon.
Israeli forces continue inside Lebanon
Israel has not backed down from its positions, including being allowed to keep troops stationed in what it describes as a safe zone, south of the Litani River that runs through southern Lebanon.
The Israeli army said on Thursday that its troops were operating in a security zone that stretches 10 kilometers south of Lebanon. The military said deployments were dictated by operational requirements and that soldiers remained stationed at their designated duty stations.
A second Israeli official told Reuters that the final outcome of the talks would depend on whether Trump “decides to force the issue” by threatening consequences if Israel does not abide by the terms of the interim Iran deal.
Netanyahu’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Israel’s long-time prime minister has boasted for years of a very close relationship with Trump, which led to a major shift in US policies in favor of Israel during the Republican presidential administration, and ultimately to a joint decision to launch war on Iran this year.
But Trump’s apparent flip-flopping over Lebanon has created the biggest strain in US-Israeli relations in decades. The US-Iran memorandum of understanding has been widely criticized in Israel across the political spectrum.
“Soon, Israel may be forced to choose: Continue military pressure and lose Trump’s political support, or stay on his good side – but only by ending, or postponing, a conflict that many see as an urgent national war,” The Times of Israel wrote on Thursday.
