US-Iran ceasefire deal originally included Lebanon, sources tell ITV News
It's being disputed whether or not the agreement for a ceasefire in the war on Iran extended to Lebanon, ITV News' Security Editor Rohit Kachroo reports
The Iranian and Pakistani delegations ended negotiations about a ceasefire in the Middle East with the clear understanding that the United States believed the agreement extended to Lebanon, according to a diplomatic source familiar with the frantic final hours before a deal was announced.
Their account appears to contradict claims by the White House on Wednesday that "Lebanon is not part of the ceasefire."
Talks involving President Donald Trump’s negotiators, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, stretched beyond 11pm London time on Tuesday as officials tried to force a breakthrough, according to an account of the negotiations based on conversations with officials from several countries who have spoken to ITV News.
On the Iranian side, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi led the discussions, alongside Pakistan’s army chief General Asim Munir and Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.
Messages were relayed between Washington and Tehran through a complex diplomatic chain running via Doha, Ankara and Islamabad. Israel was not directly involved.
Sources briefed on the talks told ITV News that negotiators ended their final call at around 11.15pm.
Minutes later, at 11.32pm, President Trump announced that a two-week ceasefire would begin immediately.
But while the statement was presented as a breakthrough, the events that followed confirm a far less settled picture.
Although other national delegations involved in the talks had been left with the impression that the ceasefire extended to Lebanon, that interpretation has been rejected by Washington — and undermined on the ground, where Israeli strikes continued.
During an interview with PBS on Wednesday, Donald Trump said Lebanon had not been included "because of Hezbollah", adding that the attacks by the IDF, in which hundreds were killed, were a "separate skirmish".
Last night, Vice President JD Vance, who will lead the US team in this weekend's talks with Iran in Pakistan, said: "I think this comes from a legitimate misunderstanding. I think the Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon, and it just didn't."
Pakistan’s reading of the US position carries particular weight, given General Munir’s close relationship with Trump — and raises questions about how such a fundamental divergence in understanding emerged at the point of agreement.
A ceasefire in Lebanon was thought to be one of few firm details agreed by both sides, according to diplomatic sources. Mediators had encouraged Iran to make only vague proposals, leaving specifics to be fleshed out at the peace talks in Islamabad later this week.
Tehran's proposal of a fee on vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz - described by some negotiators as a “toll booth” for global shipping - was deferred, along with other contentious issues.
There is also concern among diplomats that any commitments made by Iran’s delegation may ultimately require approval from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, complicating implementation.
Behind the scenes, the diplomatic effort had been vast.
A Turkish diplomatic source said Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan held more than 150 calls in the days leading up to the agreement, including around 50 focused solely on shaping the format of talks in Islamabad.
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As regional tensions escalated, Ankara also warned Tehran that potential targets had been identified by other Middle Eastern states as part of a parallel push to contain the conflict.
Those concerns had been building for weeks. On March 18, foreign ministers from Turkey, Pakistan, and several Gulf states - including Saudi Arabia and Qatar - met in Riyadh to coordinate their response.
With the Eid holiday approaching, they agreed that avoiding full-scale war must be the priority.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister told me at the time that the Kingdom’s patience was “not unlimited”, urging Iran to “recalculate” — while expressing doubt that its leadership would do so.
Gulf states chose not to retaliate.
But the deal agreed to on Tuesday leaves Lebanon emerging as the deal’s most immediate and dangerous fault line.
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