President Donald Trump on Sunday issued a warning to Iran that it must stop its proxies from “causing trouble” in Lebanon or Tehran risks being “hit” by the United States.
“Iran must immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. “If they don’t, we’ll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder!!!”
Trump made the comments as his Vice President JD Vance heads into talks with Iran, mediated by Pakistan and Qatar, in Switzerland. The president has previously said that if talks fall through, Vance will take the blame.
The 60-day ceasefire agreement between Iran and the U.S. allows negotiations for a long-term peace deal and applies to Lebanon, which has been subject to Israeli strikes and operations targeting Hezbollah, a terrorist group backed by Iran, that Israel says is threatening Israeli civilians.
In Switzerland, Vance told reporters that Trump and the U.S. have “done more to stop the conflict in Lebanon than any government anywhere in the world over the last few months.” The vice president did not specifically point to Israel continuing operations in Lebanon but said, “Peace is never easy.”
“Peace always requires a little bit of work — it always requires a little bit of give and take — but the president of the United States is committed, not just to a peace between the United States and Iran,” Vance said. “The president is committed to a regional peace, which is why we’re here working so hard to settle our issues.”
US-IRAN NUCLEAR TALKS BEGIN IN SWITZERLAND AS TEHRAN INSISTS ON RIGHT TO ENRICH
U.S. and Iranian officials are expected to discuss the Israel-Hezbollah conflict on Sunday. Israeli representatives are not in attendance for Sunday’s peace talks.
In saying “just like we did last week,” the president is referring to a series of U.S. strikes on Iran after Tehran hadn’t agreed to a deal with Washington to end its nuclear program. At the time, Trump said Iran was “playing us for suckers,” prompting the Pentagon to launch strikes in order to push Iran to the negotiation table.
