Vance warns Iran not to derail ceasefire over Lebanon

US Vice President JD Vance has drawn a sharp line around the scope of the US-Iran ceasefire, warning Tehran against linking the deal to Israel’s ongoing military actions in Lebanon.

Speaking to reporters, Vance dismissed the idea that Lebanon was part of the agreement and framed any attempt to make it a condition as a strategic mistake.

“If Iran wants to let this negotiation fall apart – in a conflict where they were getting hammered – over Lebanon, which has nothing to do with them and which the United States never once said was part of the ceasefire, that’s ultimately their choice,” he said.

“We think that would be dumb, but that’s their choice.”

The comments expose a core disagreement between the parties. Pakistan, which mediated the truce, had indicated that Lebanon was included. Iranian officials have echoed that interpretation, arguing the ceasefire should extend to Israeli operations in the country.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi pointed directly to that clause, writing:

“The Iran-US Ceasefire terms are clear and explicit: the US must choose – ceasefire or continued war via Israel. It cannot have both.”

Washington, however, maintains that no such commitment was made. Vance described the conflicting positions as a breakdown in understanding rather than a deliberate shift.

“There’s a lot of bad faith negotiation and a lot of bad faith propaganda going on,” he said. “I think this comes from a legitimate misunderstanding. I think the Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon, and it just didn’t.”

That gap matters because events on the ground are moving in the opposite direction of de-escalation. Israeli strikes in Lebanon have continued, including a wave of attacks on Wednesday that killed more than 250 people and injured over 1,000, according to reports.

Despite that, Vance suggested Israel had signaled some restraint.

He said Israeli authorities had agreed “to check themselves a little bit in Lebanon, because they want to make sure” that negotiations between Washington and Tehran remain on track.

The broader dynamic reflects overlapping conflicts that are difficult to separate. Iran has close ties to Hezbollah and has made clear it will not abandon the group, while Israel continues to treat Lebanon as an active фронт in the regional confrontation.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has warned that fighting could resume if attacks on Lebanon do not stop, raising the stakes for a ceasefire that was already narrow in scope.