The US vice president says Iran had ‘legitimate misunderstandings’ about Lebanon’s inclusion in this week’s ceasefire.
Published on 8 April 2026
United States Vice President JD Vance has warned Iran that it would be “foolish” to jeopardize its ceasefire with Washington over Israel’s attacks in Lebanon.
Although Pakistan, which brokered the ceasefire, clearly stated that Lebanon is included in the two-week ceasefire, Vance told reporters that the US does not agree that Israel will stop attacking the country.
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“If Iran wants to let this negotiation fail – in a conflict where they are losing money – over Lebanon, which has nothing to do with them and which the United States never said was part of the ceasefire, that is ultimately their choice,” Vance said as he left Hungary on Wednesday.
“We think it would be stupid, but it’s their choice.”
Earlier on Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had shared Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s statement announcing the ceasefire. He highlighted the passage about Lebanon.
Araghchi wrote, “The terms of the Iran-US ceasefire are clear and unambiguous: the US must choose – a ceasefire or continuing the war through Israel. It cannot have both.”
Nevertheless, US President Donald Trump and his White House have argued that Lebanon was not part of the agreement.
Vance dismissed the conflicting positions as a “misunderstanding”.
“There’s a lot of bad faith negotiations and a lot of bad faith propaganda going on,” he said. “I think it comes from a legitimate misunderstanding. I think the Iranians thought the ceasefire included Lebanon, and it didn’t.”
It is unclear how such a “misunderstanding” could occur during high-stakes international negotiations. US officials also did not explain why Lebanon was highlighted as part of the ceasefire in the Pakistani statement.
Israel has a long history of violating ceasefire agreements, including a November 2024 cease-fire with Lebanon. Since then, Lebanon has been under almost daily Israeli attacks for 15 months.
On Wednesday, Israel launched one of its deadliest and most devastating attacks yet, with dozens of airstrikes that killed at least 254 people and injured more than 1,100 others.
Nevertheless, Vance suggested that Israel had agreed to show restraint in Lebanon.
He said the Israelis have “committed to putting a little bit of a check on ourselves in Lebanon, because they want to make sure” that the US-Iran talks are successful.
The war in Lebanon escalated in early March, when Hezbollah launched rocket attacks against Israel in response to Israeli attacks, as well as the assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Hezbollah faces increasing pressure from rivals inside Lebanon over accusations that it has dragged the country into war under the influence of Iran’s support.
Meanwhile, Iranian officials have said they will not abandon Hezbollah.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) threatened on Wednesday to resume fighting if Israel does not observe a ceasefire in Lebanon.
It said, “If the aggression against beloved Lebanon is not stopped immediately, we will do our duty and give a regrettable response to the rogue aggressors in the region.”
