SOURCE :- SIASAT NEWS
The Trump administration has offered a 15-point ceasefire plan to Iran, according to a person briefed on the contours of the plan but who was not authorised to speak publicly about it.
The ceasefire plan was submitted to Iran by intermediaries from Pakistan, who have offered to host renewed negotiations between Washington and Tehran. The proposal comes as the US military is preparing to call up at least 1,000 more troops from the 82nd Airborne Division to supplement some 50,000 troops already in the region.
The New York Times reported earlier Tuesday that the 15-point plan had been delivered to Iranian officials. The Pentagon is also in the process of deploying a pair of Marine Expeditionary Units that will add about 5,000 Marines and thousands of sailors to the region.
Israeli officials, who have been advocating for Trump to continue the war against Iran, were taken by surprise by the US administration’s submission of a ceasefire plan, the person said.
But with the US taking steps to send additional soldiers and Marines to the Mideast, the move is being framed as Trump maneuvering to give himself “max flexibility” on what he will do next, the person added. The White House did not respond to requests for comment.
Lebanon expels Iran’s Ambassador amid escalating tensions over Hezbollah
Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry declared Iran’s ambassador to Beirut persona non grata Tuesday, ordering him to leave the country by the end of the week.
The decision was the clearest sign yet of deteriorating relations between the two countries and raises tensions within Lebanon over the role of Tehran and its Lebanon-based ally, the militant Hezbollah group.
The decision is the latest step taken by Lebanon’s government against Iran after the most recent Israel-Hezbollah war broke out on March 2, during which Israel’s military killed several members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard in strikes around the long-suffering country.
Hezbollah triggered the latest war by firing rockets into Israel two days after Israel and the United States began their attacks on Iran, in which they killed top Iranian officials including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Hezbollah said one of the reasons it attacked Israel was to avenge the killing of Khamenei, who was one of the most important Shiite Muslim religious figures worldwide.
IRG directing Hezbollah ops in Lebanon, prime minister says
Over the weekend, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said Iran’s Revolutionary Guard is commanding Hezbollah’s operations in Lebanon, adding that the firing of missiles toward Israel threw the small nation into a broad confrontation that the Lebanese government “was not willing to get involved in.”
“It is not the duty of the Lebanese to avenge Khamenei’s killing,” Salam said.
Salam also said the IRG was behind the firing of drones from Lebanon toward the Mediterranean island of Cyprus earlier this month.
Hours after Hezbollah fired rockets on March 2, triggering the war that has so far killed 1,072 people in Lebanon and wounded nearly 3,000, Salam’s government declared all military activities by the Iran-backed group illegal. He also said the group should hand its weapons over to the state. The government also ended visa-free entry to Lebanon for Iranian citizens.
Salam said after an emergency Cabinet meeting in early March that only the state should decide on matters of war and peace and called on security agencies to prevent the firing of missiles or drones from Lebanon and detain those behind the launch.
(with inputs from PTI)
SOURCE : SIASAT
