Just hours after United States President Donald Trump claimed that a deal with Iran is close, Israel once again attacked Lebanon. The military assault in Lebanon consisted of striking the southern city of Tyre and issuing an evacuation warning that for the first time included the port’s Christian quarter.
“We’re in the final throes of what will be a very, very good deal,” Trump said early Tuesday of the ongoing negotiations to end the war that the US and Israel began in late February.
The attacks on Lebanon risked renewed fighting with Tehran, a day after exchanges that had threatened a return to all-out war. The US military, meanwhile, said it had used an unmanned boat to rescue two soldiers whose helicopter went down near the flashpoint Strait of Hormuz.
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Trump said that there are no “sticking points” in negotiations with Iran, accoridng to a report by NBC News. “I think we’re very close to having a very, very good, strong, powerful deal,” he said, adding that an agreement would be preferable to and “actually stronger than doing the bombing.”
Trump has stated, almost on repeat, that the US and Iran are close to a deal, even though nothing has ever materialized with regard to a peace agreement.
Trump said Tuesday that he’d had a “very good conversation” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the fighting. “He was hit, and he hit back, and I can’t blame him for that,” Trump told reporters, adding that both sides “agreed, through me, to stop.” –NBC News
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Trump made the comments after Israel and Iran agreed to step back from their first direct exchange since the April ceasefire. These current tit-for-tat strikes were triggered when Tehran launched fresh attacks in response to Israel’s strikes on the Lebanese capital, Beirut, over the weekend. Israel responded, and the two sides exchanged attacks before stepping back after Trump’s calls for de-escalation.
Trump said Tuesday that he’d had a “very good conversation” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the fighting. “He was hit, and he hit back, and I can’t blame him for that,” Trump told reporters, adding that both sides “agreed, through me, to stop.” –NBC News
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