US President Donald Trump appears to be casting doubt on the effectiveness of the ceasefire that has halted the Iran war.
“Iran is doing a very poor job, dishonorable some would say, of allowing Oil to go through the Strait of Hormuz,” he wrote on his social media site Thursday evening.
“That is not the agreement we have!”
The post came after Trump posted earlier that “There are reports that Iran is charging fees to tankers going through the Hormuz Strait – They better not be and, if they are, they better stop now!”
The White House supports reopening the strait as part of the ceasefire deal, but says that Trump opposes Iran's military, which continues to control the waterway, from seeking to raise revenue by charging tolls on passing ships.
Earlier, in a potential boost to Middle East ceasefire efforts, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he authorised direct negotiations with Lebanon “as soon as possible” aimed at disarming Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants and establishing relations between the neighbours.
The two countries have technically been at war since Israel was established in 1948, and Netanyahu later stressed that there was no ceasefire between them.
In a video statement, he said Israel will keep striking Hezbollah until security is restored in northern Israel.
There was no immediate response from Lebanon. But Israel-Lebanon negotiations were expected to begin next week at the State Department in Washington, according to a US official and a person familiar with the plans, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The prospect of talks appeared to bolster the tentative ceasefire in the Iran war that has staggered under the weight of Israel's bombardment of Beirut, Tehran's continued chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz and uncertainty over whether talks can find common ground.
However later Thursday, Trump appeared to cast doubt on the effectiveness of the ceasefire, writing on his social media platform that Iran is doing a very poor job of allowing oil to go through the Strait of Hormuz.
Netanyahu's authorisation of negotiations with Lebanon came amid disagreement over whether the ceasefire deal included a pause in fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, and a day after Israel pounded Beirut with airstrikes, the deadliest day in Lebanon since the war began February 28.
Israel has fought multiple wars and launched several major invasions of Lebanon over the years, most recently sending in troops last month in response to Hezbollah fire on Israel's northern border communities.
The launch of direct peace talks is a significant achievement, though reaching an agreement will be difficult after decades of hostilities, Hezbollah's continued presence and longstanding disagreements over the countries' shared land border.
The talks in Washington are expected to be handled on the American side by the US ambassador to Lebanon, Michel Issa, and on the Israeli side by the Israeli ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, according to the person familiar with the planning.
It was not immediately clear who would represent Lebanon.
The timing and location of the talks was first reported by Axios.
After declaring victory with the ceasefire announcement, both Iran and the US appeared to apply pressure on each other.
Semiofficial news agencies in Iran suggested forces have mined the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for oil that Tehran has closed. Trump warned that US forces would hit Iran harder than before if it did not fulfill the agreement.
Questions also remained over what will happen to Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium at the heart of tensions, how and when normal traffic will resume through the strait, and what happens to Iran's ability to launch future missile attacks and support armed proxies in the region.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a message on Telegram that Iran's decision to accept a ceasefire was made unanimously by senior government leaders and approved by the supreme leader. He said the ceasefire “is not a sign of weakness but a way to solidify Iran's proud victories”.
Despite disputes over the ceasefire, it appears to have halted weeks of missile and drone attacks by Iran on its Gulf Arab neighbours and Israel, with no new launches reported Thursday.
There were no reports of strikes by the US or Israel targeting Iran.
Trump said on Thursday that he has asked Netanyahu to dial back the strikes in Lebanon.
Lebanon's health ministry said more than 300 people were killed and more than 1,100 wounded Wednesday by Israeli strikes on central Beirut and other areas of Lebanon that Israel said targeted Hezbollah, which joined the war in support of Tehran.
Israel said Thursday it killed an aide to Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem, Ali Yusuf Harshi. Hezbollah did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A New York-based think tank warned the ceasefire “ hovers on the verge of collapse ” following Israel's strikes Wednesday.
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported that an Israeli strike overnight killed at least seven people in southern Lebanon. The Israeli military did not immediately acknowledge the strike.