US did not agree that ceasefire with Iran would cover Lebanon, V-P Vance says
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US Vice-President J.D. Vance speaking to the media in Budapest on April 8 before boarding Air Force Two to return to Washington DC.
PHOTO: REUTERS
BUDAPEST - Vice-President J.D. Vance on April 8 said Tehran’s negotiators thought the US-Iran ceasefire agreed to on April 7 included Lebanon, but the US had in fact not agreed to that.
“I think this comes from a legitimate misunderstanding. I think the Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon, and it just didn’t,” Mr Vance told reporters in Budapest.
The US position was that the ceasefire would focus on Iran and US allies, including Israel and the Gulf Arab states, he added.
That position contradicts comments by Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, a key intermediary in the US-Iran ceasefire talks, who had said the truce would include Lebanon.
Mr Vance said Israel had agreed to show restraint in Lebanon, without providing details.
“The Israelis, as I understand it... have actually offered to, frankly, to check themselves a little bit in Lebanon, because they want to make sure that our negotiation is successful,” Mr Vance said. REUTERS
