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US Vice President JD Vance firmly discarded the claims of Lebanon being a part of the truce talks between Washington and Tehran, as the precarious two-week ceasefire comes into place. US Vice President JD Vance speaks to the media before boarding Air Force Two(Photo/Reuters)
Speaking to reporters ahead of his departure from Hungary, on whether Lebanon was included in the peace proposal, Vance said that the United States never made any such promises. He underlined that the ceasefire was aimed at a focus on Iran, and American allies--both Israel and the Gulf Arab states. "We never made that promise. We never indicated that was going to be the case. What we said is that the ceasefire would be focused on Iran and the ceasefire would be focused on America''s allies, both Israel and the Gulf Arab states." The remarks by Vance has put Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif in a tight spot after he had claimed that Lebanon was also a part of the peace deal--a claim firmly dismissed by both US President Donald Trump and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu. The embarrassment to the self-styled mediator''s claims comes as a part of the carousel of chaos Islamabad has seen in the last few hours. Pakistan had attempted to present itself as a peacemaker between the US and Iran, but the new details from a Financial Times report suggest that it was rather pushed by White House to broker the temporary ceasefire with Iran. The report posed serious questions about Pakistan''s independent diplomatic stance as it suggests that Islamabad was not a neutral broker but rather a convenient channel for the US to push the temporary ceasefire deal. Financial Times, citing the people familiar with the talks, reported that the US leaned on Pakistan to present Washington''s proposal to Iran, making the country a mere messenger between the two sides rather than having an active neutral participation. Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif, who was the first one to suggest a two-week ceasefire in public, was reduced to a spectator with Army chief Asim Munir playing a central role, holding urgent discussions with US officials, including Donald Trump, JD Vance and envoy Steve Witkoff. The blunder from Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif on a social media post, in a rush to claim credit, also exposed limited say over the deal. Sharif, who framed the deal as Pakistan''s initiative, mistakenly included a subject line at the top of his post: "draft -- Pakistan''s PM message on X" Pakistan''s attempt to cast itself as a neutral player also came under threat when a drone attack hit the Saudi petrochemical hub of Jubail, a Financial Times report revealed. Islamabad had signed a mutual defence pact with Riyadh last year. Pakistan still stayed neutral, allowing it to engage in diplomatic efforts. The diplomatic doublespeak over Lebanon puts the US-Iran peace deal in danger. As tensions escalate, Al Jazeera reported on Thursday that the country declared a day of mourning after a wave of Israeli strikes killed at least 254 people and injured more than 1,165 in a single day on Wednesday. Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that the Israelis will continue their offensive in South Lebanon aimed at neutralising the threat from Hezbollah, despite backing the US decision to suspend strikes against Iran as the two nations look to work out a lasting peace formula. Meanwhile, Israel''s Ambassador to India, Reuven Azar, reaffirmed Tel Aviv''s objective is to achieve a situation without "Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure" in Southern Lebanon as Israel continues to strike Lebanon after the ceasefire with Iran. (ANI)
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