Iran Calls Israeli Strikes on Lebanon a Grave Violation of Deal

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh accused Israel of a "massacre" in Lebanon on Thursday, telling BBC Radio that Wednesday's Israeli air strikes constituted a "grave violation" of the two-week ceasefire agreement reached between Washington and Tehran just days earlier.

"What happened yesterday was grave violation," Khatibzadeh said. "It was a catastrophe, could actually end in more catastrophe, and this is the nature of..." his warning to the international community. Khatibzadeh accused Israel of a "massacre" in Lebanon, where the strikes killed 182 people on Wednesday according to the health ministry, and called on "everyone in the Middle East to be abiding by this ceasefire that we reached with Americans."

The ceasefire itself was announced by President Donald Trump on Tuesday via Truth Social. Trump described the agreement as a 10-point plan, conveyed to Washington earlier in the week by Pakistani intermediaries, calling it "a workable basis on which to negotiate." "Almost all of the various points of past contention have been agreed to between the United States and Iran, but a two week period will allow the Agreement to be finalized and consummated," Trump said.

At the heart of the crisis lies a sharp dispute over the deal's geographic scope. Israel, which invaded Lebanon last month in parallel with the war on Iran to root out the armed group Hezbollah, Tehran's ally, says its actions there are not covered by the ceasefire announced by Trump. Washington also said Lebanon is not covered by the truce, but Iran and Pakistan, which acted as mediator, say it was explicitly part of the deal. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in announcing the truce, said Lebanon was included.

Khatibzadeh said Iran sent a message to the Oval Office: "You cannot have a cake and eat it at the same time." Iranian Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf was equally blunt, posting on X that "there is no room for denial and backtracking," and that continued attacks on Lebanon would bring "explicit costs and STRONG responses."

The scale of Wednesday's bombardment was staggering. In the span of ten minutes, Israel targeted more than 100 sites across Lebanon, the Israel Defense Forces said, describing it as the largest coordinated strike of the campaign. Lebanon said at least 112 people were killed and hundreds of others were wounded on Wednesday, one of the deadliest days in the Israel-Hezbollah war, as Israeli strikes hit several commercial and residential areas in central Beirut without warning. By Thursday, Lebanon's Ministry of Health revised the toll upward to at least 203 dead with more than 1,000 wounded, and flags were lowered to half-mast at the Presidential Palace as Lebanon declared a day of national mourning.

The Israeli military said it had "eliminated" Ali Yusuf Harshi, described as the personal secretary and nephew of Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem. Harshi was a close associate and personal advisor to Qassem and played a central role in managing and securing his office, the IDF said.

Hezbollah, which had initially said it would pause attacks on Israel in line with the ceasefire, said it was resuming them, firing once across the border into Israel and twice at Israeli forces in southern Lebanon. The United Nations strongly condemned the strikes. "The United Nations strongly condemns the strikes by Israel across Lebanon that resulted in significant civilian casualties," said UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq, who also called on all sides to use the US-Iran ceasefire as an opportunity for diplomacy.

The death toll in Lebanon has surpassed 1,600 since the start of Israel's assault, according to Lebanese authorities, while the dispute over whether Lebanon is included in the ceasefire terms remains unresolved. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has made Iran's position clear: a ceasefire in Lebanon is an essential condition of his country's agreement with the United States, a demand Washington has so far declined to acknowledge.