Lebanese President Aoun Arrives in Washington to Seek Trump Support for Israel Ceasefire
Aoun Seeks US Backing in Washington
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun left Beirut on Saturday for Washington, where he is expected to meet Donald Trump. [2] Aoun will hold discussions with several American officials on the situation in Lebanon and ways to strengthen the ceasefire, particularly in the south, as well as on the withdrawal of Israel from the Lebanese regions it occupies. [2] It will be the first trip to Washington by a Lebanese head of state since Michel Sleiman was received by Barack Obama in 2009. [2] Israel and Lebanon, which do not have formal diplomatic relations, began US-sponsored negotiations in April aimed at reaching a peace deal and permanently ending the Israel-Hezbollah war. [2] On June 26, they reached a framework agreement under which the Israeli military is to withdraw from southern Lebanon and the Lebanese army is to deploy, starting with two pilot zones. [2] Following the latest round of talks this week in Rome, Israel and Lebanon agreed on the structure and guidelines for implementing the pilot zones. [2] A Lebanese military source said the army had begun intensifying patrols in several villages adjacent to areas occupied by Israeli forces, including Froun in the Bint Jbeil district, in preparation for implementing the pilot zones. [2]
Hezbollah Rejects Deal Amid Funeral and Rally
Hezbollah held a mass funeral for dozens of people, most of them fighters killed in the most recent fighting with Israel, in southern Lebanon’s Majdal Selm on Saturday. [2] In the heavily damaged village, Hezbollah buried 44 people, including 39 fighters, four civilians said to have been killed in Israeli operations, and one man who died of natural causes. [2] Trucks carrying the coffins travelled to the burial site as weeping women held portraits of the dead and of Iran’s late supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, who was assassinated in US-Israeli strikes on Tehran in February. [2] Hezbollah organised the funeral during the current lull in fighting, which followed the June 17 signing of a US-Iran memorandum of understanding. [2] The Israel-Lebanon agreement is contingent on the disarmament of Hezbollah, which has flatly rejected both the deal and the negotiations. [2] The group held a rally in the coastal city of Tyre on Saturday to reiterate its rejection of the plan. [2]
Ceasefire Violations Continue in Southern Lebanon
Despite the ceasefire, sporadic attacks continue. [2] The Israeli military said it struck a Hezbollah cell near Tebnit in southern Lebanon on Saturday after soldiers identified a Hezbollah drone. [2] The air force located fighters who had been operating drones and taking cover near Israeli troops, which the military said violated ceasefire understandings. [2] Separately, a Lebanese soldier was killed and an officer and another soldier were wounded Saturday when a suspicious object exploded in an army vehicle in Mansouri, the Lebanese army said. [2] Mansouri was also subjected to several Israeli strikes. [2] Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported fresh airstrikes against two towns located on the edge of the so-called security zone, in the Tyre and Nabatieh regions, and a large detonation near Zawtar al-Sharqiyah. [2] On March 2, Hezbollah launched a retaliation following the assassination of Khamenei. [2] In response, Israel attacked Lebanon, initiating airstrikes and a ground invasion. [2]
Iran Hardliners Accuse Leaders of Soft Coup
Iran's most hardline political factions have accused senior government officials of staging a soft coup against the country's revolutionary leadership. [4] The accusations have intensified following the funeral of late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, where President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reportedly faced public hostility. [4] Mourners shouted death to the compromiser at Pezeshkian, while Araghchi was forced to flee after being pelted with rocks and branded a traitorous sellout over his role in negotiating a ceasefire and sanctions relief with Washington. [4] Hardliners have alleged that President Pezeshkian, chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Araghchi are consolidating power while Mojtaba Khamenei remains absent from public life. [4] Days before Khamenei's funeral, hardline lawmaker Mahmoud Nabavian publicly questioned the government's intentions with the statement Warning to the people of Iran: Is a coup on the way. [4] Following the funeral, he added that in these moments of farewell to the martyred Imam we raise the banner of vengeance for his blood and stand firm against the coup. [4]
US Strikes Iran Over Hormuz Shipping Attacks
The United States State Department issued a worldwide caution for US travelers on Saturday due to the rising tension across the Middle East. [5] Due to heightened tensions in the Middle East, the security environment remains complex with the potential for unforeseen escalation, the State Department wrote on its website. [5] The warning came as the United States continued to strike Iran for the eighth night in a row, and after two US soldiers were killed and one announced as being missing in action after an Iranian strike on a base in Jordan. [5] The strikes are designed to further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and swiftly punish Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces who launched attacks against American service members in Jordan last night, US Central Command wrote in a post on X. [5] The ceasefire has since come under fresh strain after Iran's Revolutionary Guards launched attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, prompting US retaliatory strikes. [4]
Hormuz Blockade Risks Global Food Crisis
A blockade at Hormuz would overwhelm land corridors like the Middle Corridor, which maxes at 1,200 TEU per day versus 24,000 TEU per ultra-large container vessel. [1] Land corridors simply cannot substitute for maritime routes in bulk food logistics. [1] With the overland alternative quickly saturated, global logistics networks must rely on the maritime detour around Africa via the Cape of Good Hope. [1] Rerouting commercial vessels around Africa adds about 3,500 to 4,000 nautical miles to the voyage. [1] At standard economical speeds, this adds a delay of 10 to 14 days to the global supply chain. [1] The extended transit also increases marine fuel consumption by 450 to 600 metric tons per vessel, driving up operational costs per voyage by 34.6%. [1] Our model predicts that within 14 days of a chokepoint closure, the supply gap caused by shipping delays triggers panic buying and localized shortages. [1] Within 30 days, as higher transport costs reach retail shelves, the model projects a 15% to 22% spike in the price of basic food commodities in vulnerable, import-dependent regions, most notably in East Africa and across the Global South. [1]
What to watch next: The US Embassy renewed its call for Americans not to travel to Lebanon, citing high tensions in the Middle East, while analysts note that Iran's leadership remains broadly united on ending the conflict in a way that secures sanctions relief while preserving Tehran's influence over the Strait of Hormuz. [2] [4]
