The Iranian state media citing senior security sources reported that Iran exerted diplomatic pressure to compel Israel to stop its attacks on Beirut. In Islamabad, the report asserts that Tehran threatened to pull out of ongoing high-stakes negotiations with the United States, unless Israeli military activities in Lebanon were halted.
The sources pointed out that the threat to withdraw the talks and the extreme pressure played a decisive role in compelling Israel to halt its offensive. Iran was quoted saying that it would only agree to temporary ceasefire talks with the US under the condition that Israeli attacks on the capital of Lebanon would be immediately stopped.
This increased after a series of massive Israeli airstrikes on previous days of the week, which was termed as one of the harshest since Hezbollah joined the war in March. The attacks are said to have had a great number of casualties with hundreds of them feared dead, and this aggravated the tensions in the region.
Iran has insisted that a two-week ceasefire structure just agreed upon with the United States had clauses to stop the hostilities in Lebanon. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the US President Donald Trump both have refused to admit that there is such a clause in the agreement.
The delicacy of the current conflict situation and the diplomatic tightrope walking between several world and regional powers can be seen. The intervention reported by Iran highlights its increased influence in the conflict, as the talks are going on with no certainty that the ceasefire conditions will be observed.