Middle East: US hits Iran radar sites, Kuwait under fire

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi has said the ongoing ceasefire between the US and Iran means a halt in fighting on all fronts, including Lebanon.

His comment comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin ‌Netanyahu ordered
attacks on the ‌​southern suburbs of Beirut, where Hezbollah has control.

"Violation on one front ​is a violation of the ceasefire ⁠on all ​fronts," Aragchi wrote on X.

"The ​US and Israel ​are responsible ‌for the consequences of any violation," ​he added.  

Tehran has been consistent in demanding that any ceasefire or peace deal with the US should stipulate an end to Israel's hostilities against the Iran-backed militia in Lebanon.

Israel began its current offensive against Hezbollah after the paramilitary force carried out attacks on Israel in support of Iran amid the US-Israeli strikes on it launched at the end of February.

Iran has carried out two more death sentences over convictions connected with the mass anti-government protests in January, the judiciary's Mizan news agency reported.

Two men, Mehdad Mohammadi-Nia and Ashkan Malek, were executed on Monday morning after being found guilty of acts including setting fire to a mosque, Mizan said.

More than a dozen executions have so far been carried out in connection with the protests, which started at the end of December in response to the country's economic plight before mutating into an uprising against Iran's authoritarian regime.

Iran is surpassed only by China in the number of people it executes each year.

 According to Amnesty International, at least 2,159 people were executed in Iran last year — the highest recorded figure since 1981.

Top Iranian negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has said that the continued US naval blockade of Iran's ports and Israel's intensifying offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon show that Washington is not complying with the ceasefire.

He wrote on X that "the naval blockade and escalation of war crimes in Lebanon" were "clear evidence of US noncompliance with the ceasefire."

"Every choice has a price, and the bill comes due. It will all fall into place," he added.

The US and Iran agreed a ceasefire that went into force on April 8 and has since been extended, but both sides have accused each other of violating the truce.

The US began its naval blockade of Iranian ports on April 16 after talks between delegations from Washington and Tehran in Pakistan failed to produce a peace agreement.

Iran has maintained its closure of the Strait of Hormuz — a major chokepoint for the transport of oil and gas — partly because of the blockade.

It has also said a ceasefire in Lebanon, where Israel is continuing its military operations against the Iran-backed militia Hezbollah, is a prerequisite for any peace deal with the US.

Iran's Foreign Ministry said on Monday that exchanges between Tehran and Washington on ending the US-Iran war were taking place under difficult conditions caused partly by contradictory messages coming from the US.

"Negotiations have started amid severe suspicion ‌and mistrust, and the exchange ‌of ​messages is taking place in this atmosphere," Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said in a weekly press briefing.

"The other ​party is constantly changing its views and putting ⁠forward ​new or contradictory ​demands (...) it is natural that ​this situation ‌will prolong negotiations," he said.

Bagaei also said "a ceasefire in Lebanon is an essential condition for any deal aimed at ending the war" as Israel continues its offensive against the Iran-backed militia Hezbollah.

He said there were currently no negotiations with the US over Tehran's nuclear program.

"We know when it is necessary to act on nuclear matters. No negotiations have taken place on the details of the nuclear file. At this stage, our priority is ending the war," he said.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly asserted that the US offensive against Iran has the main aim of stopping Iran from developing nuclear weapons, something Tehran has always denied as the purpose of its nuclear activities.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz on Monday said they had told Israel's military to carry out strikes on the Lebanese capital Beirut's southern suburbs.

"In light of the repeated violations of the ceasefire in Lebanon by the terrorist organization Hezbollah and the attacks on our cities and citizens, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz have instructed the IDF to strike terror targets in the Dahiyeh district of Beirut," a joint statement said.

Dahiyeh, a Shi'ite suburb known as a stronghold of Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militia, has come under Israeli attack several times in the past two decades.

Israeli strikes and evacuation orders in Lebanon have displaced more than 1.2 million ⁠Lebanese since March 2, when Hezbollah began firing missiles and drones into Israel to support its ally Iran as it faced a US-Israeli offensive.

The Israeli offensive has so far killed more than 3,370 people, according to the ​Lebanese government.

⁠Israel says more than 20 of its soldiers and four civilians have been ⁠killed over ​the same period.

Tens of thousands of Israelis in the country's north have also been forced from their homes by Hezbollah rockets and drones.

The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Monday on the conflict in Lebanon as Israeli forces move deep into the country during their offensive against the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia, diplomatic sources told the AFP news agency.

The meeting has been requested by France, with President Emmanuel Macron saying "nothing justifies the major escalation under way in south Lebanon." 

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Monday that his country was facing "a vicious and reprehensible Israeli aggression" after Israel captured the medieval Beaufort Castle, marking its deepest incursion into Lebanon in 26 years.

The continued fighting in Lebanon comes despite a truce that began April 17 but has never brought any respite.

Hezbollah has said it has targeted Israeli forces near Beaufort Castle as well as army positions and infrastructure in Shlomi and Nahariya in northern Israel.

A US official said Secretary of State Marco Rubio had spoken to Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about ongoing diplomatic negotiations, asserting that Hezbollah must be the first to cease its attacks.

The official said Rubio had proposed a plan to allow for "gradual de-escalation."  

Lebanon was dragged into the Middle East war on March 2 when Hezbollah fired rockets toward Israel in response to the US-Israeli killing of Iran's former supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Kuwait, which hosts a major US base, said on Monday it was intercepting incoming drone and missile fire, without giving details as to where it was coming from.

Iran's paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has, however, said that it has targeted a US base in response to the US weekend strikes on Iranian military sites, making it seem likely that it is behind the Kuwait attacks.

Gulf states have come under several attacks from Iran during the current conflict, with Tehran saying it is targeting the US military presence there.

The US military said on Monday it had targeted radar and drone control sites in Iran over the weekend after Iranian forces shot down a US MQ-1 Predator drone.

The US military's Central Command said it conducted the strikes in Iran around the city of Geruk and on Qeshm Island.

"The measured and deliberate strikes occurred ... in response to aggressive Iranian actions that included the shootdown of a US MQ-1 drone that was operating over international waters," it said.

"US fighter aircraft swiftly responded by eliminating Iranian air defenses, a ground control station, and two one-way attack drones that posed clear threats to ships transiting regional waters," it added.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had targeted an air base used by the US for an attack on southern Iran in response.

It did not identify the base.

The attacks come despite a weekslong ceasefire that has already been undermined by numerous military actions on both sides.

The current war in the Middle East, triggered by US and Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28, is still going on after three months despite numerous exchanges between Washington and Tehran aimed at ending the conflict.

A ceasefire that went into effect on April 8 has mitigated the fighting, but both the US and Iran are continuing with limited attacks.

Israel has meanwhile not ceased its military efforts to combat the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon, with its forces over the weekend marking the deepest incursion into the country in 26 years with the capture of Beaufort Castle.

DW brings you reports and background on a conflict that has spread throughout the Middle East region and that is having a major impact on economies around the world.