Vice President Vance on Wednesday said there was a “legitimate misunderstanding” on the ceasefire agreement with Iran after its leaders slammed the U.S. for an Israeli attack on Lebanon.
“I think this comes from a legitimate misunderstanding,” Vance told reporters Wednesday.
“I think that the Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon, and it just didn’t. We never made that promise,” he added.
“That said, the Israelis as I understand it … have actually offered to frankly check themselves a little bit in Lebanon because they want to make sure that our negotiation is successful.”
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, the speaker of the Iranian Parliament, both said the ceasefire was supposed to include Lebanon, where the Iran-backed group Hezbollah is based. However, President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu both said Wednesday that Lebanon was not a part of the agreement.
“With the greatest humility, I am pleased to announce that the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America, along with their allies, have agreed to an immediate ceasefire everywhere including Lebanon and elsewhere, EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY,” Sharif wrote in a Tuesday post on the social platform X, announcing the deal’s framework.
In an interview Wednesday, however, Trump said Lebanon was not a part of the ceasefire.
“They were not included in the deal. That’ll get taken care of, too. It’s all right,” the president said.
When asked by PBS if he was OK with Israel continuing to hit Lebanon, Trump said, “it’s part of the deal.”
“Everyone knows that,” he said. “That’s a separate skirmish.”
Qalibaf said the violation makes it “unreasonable” to continue negotiations with the U.S. ahead of upcoming talks surrounding a longer ceasefire.
Vance is expected to lead upcoming peace talks in Islamabad later this week and worked with Chinese officials to secure the initial phase of the ceasefire, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Wednesday.
