President Trump warned Iran on Wednesday of "higher level" military strikes if it refuses a peace deal, even as he described negotiations brokered by Pakistan as showing "great progress" and called a comprehensive agreement "very possible."
Trump put his Project Freedom mission on pause Tuesday night, describing the halt as an opportunity to determine whether "a Complete and Final Agreement" could be reached. The operation had been guiding commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz and had prompted the first Iranian attacks on vessels in the strait and against U.S. Gulf allies in nearly a month.
Iran had not publicly reacted to the pause as of Wednesday. But Tehran denied any involvement in an attack on a South Korean cargo ship. The Panama-flagged HMM Namu caught fire Monday while transiting the Strait of Hormuz with 24 crew members aboard. Iran's embassy in Seoul said it "firmly rejects and categorically denies" allegations that its armed forces were behind the blast. Trump later claimed Iran had "taken some shots" at the vessel and urged South Korea to join U.S.-led escort operations in the strait. South Korea said it would "review its position" on participating.
Trump said it was "too soon" for new direct talks with Iranian officials in Pakistan, despite the reported progress. According to CNN, Iran was expected to formally respond Thursday to the U.S. proposal. Axios reported that U.S. and Iranian officials were closing in on a one-page memo to end the war.
Separately, Israel struck Beirut's southern suburbs Wednesday in the first such attack on the area in nearly a month. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his military had targeted "the commander of Hezbollah's Radwan force." A source close to Hezbollah identified the killed commander as Malek Ballout, described as the operations commander in the Radwan force. At least 11 other people were killed in strikes across southern and eastern Lebanon, according to the Lebanese health ministry. A Lebanese security source told AFP that the strike hit an apartment where Radwan leaders were holding a meeting.
Many residents of the southern suburbs had already left after Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the broader Middle East war in March and had not returned despite a truce that has been in force since April 17.
