JERUSALEM, Israel – A tense quiet hovers over the Middle East after trouble between the U.S. and Iran spiked over the weekend, less than ten days after the two countries signed the Memorandum of Understanding outlining talks. Meanwhile, Israel and Lebanon signed an agreement heading for peace, but the Iranian-backed Hezbollah doesn’t want that to happen.
U.S. CENTCOM released footage of its strikes on Iranian missile storage facilities, coastal radar installations, and minelayer capabilities following an Iranian drone strike on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
Later, Iran attacked a second commercial ship and U.S. interests in Kuwait and Bahrain.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz cautioned on Fox News Sunday, “If the Iranian regime thinks for a second that President Trump is going to sit by, stand by, while Iran continues to attack international shipping without a response, or our bases without a response, they’re sadly mistaken and they saw that loud and clear over the past few nights, where we’ll continue, militarily if needed, to down their infrastructure that they’re trying to use to illegally control an international waterway.”
Waltz added that 143 nations agree with the U.S. that it is a violation of international law for Iran to take tolls and fees for passage through the Strait.
“So they’re completely isolated here,” he noted. “President Trump is not going to stand for it, and meanwhile, we continue to move ships out by the dozens, every day, and world oil prices are not just stable, they’re dropping.”
On Sunday, President Trump commented on Truth Social, “There may come a point when we are no longer able to be reasonable, and will be forced to militarily complete the job that we very successfully started. If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!”
The U.S. and Iran agreed to stop the attacks and meet in Qatar this week, according to a report in Axios.
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Meanwhile, Israel and Lebanon signed a U.S.-mediated agreement in Washington late on Friday, moving the two countries toward peace.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared, “As I said, today is the first step. This first step sometimes is the hardest one, but it’s an important one and the one we’ve taken together. And we’re very grateful that this has come about.”
Rubio added that this was the first step in what could be a “difficult journey.”
“Hopefully we’ll have many more of these conversations and make real and tangible progress so that the people of both of these countries can be hopeful about their future – a future of peace, a future of prosperity, a future of mutual coexistence in a way that’s beneficial to the men and women and children, including those not yet born, who deserve what all people deserve, and that is the right to live in their country without fear of harm, without fear of war, without fear of conflict,” he said.
Lebanese Ambassador to the U.S. Nada Hamadeh Moawad observed, “The trilateral framework we signed today is a first step on the road to restoring Lebanese sovereignty and territorial integrity, securing a permanent and final cessation of hostilities, enabling our people to go back to their land, and allowing all Lebanese to live in peace, prosperity, and security.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later described the agreement as a “historic accomplishment.”
“Following direct negotiations between Israel and Lebanon, mediated by the US, we have reached a framework of understandings that allows us to move forward toward ending the conflict, and, G-d willing, eventually reaching a peace agreement between the two countries,” Netanyahu remarked.
He said that the U.S. and Lebanon recognized Israel’s right to maintain the zone in southern Lebanon as long as needed for its security.
“We will continue to hold it until Hezbollah and the rest of the terrorist organizations are disarmed, and until no further threat to Israel is posed from Lebanon. I want you to know: this is a massive blow to Iran and Hezbollah,” he asserted.
Standing by a map, Netanyahu explained how, as part of the pilot program, the Lebanese Army would take over two areas and disarm Hezbollah. Israel would then verify that the disarmament had taken place.
Hezbollah killed an Israeli soldier on Sunday, and Israel destroyed a massive, deeply embedded underground terror tunnel built by Hezbollah, stretching more than 650 feet. It contained hundreds of weapons and several launch shafts directed toward Israel. The Netanyahu government said it informed the U.S. in advance of the tunnel’s destruction.
The Israel Defense Forces announced on Monday that it struck three Hezbollah headquarters in southern Lebanon after the organization violated the ceasefire agreement.
