Calls were mounting on Thursday for the ceasefire between the US and Iran to be extended to Lebanon, where a massive wave of Israeli strikes has killed more than 250 people and wounded over 1,000.
US President Donald Trump has claimed victory in the Middle East war after agreeing to a two-week truce to allow talks to end a conflict that has killed thousands and plunged the global economy into turmoil.
But the future of the negotiations was in limbo on Thursday after Iran denounced Israel's ongoing strikes on Lebanon, and Tehran's ambassador to Pakistan deleted a social media post that confirmed that an Iranian delegation would arrive in Islamabad, which is set to host crucial talks.
An official at the Iranian embassy in Islamabad told AFP that Ambassador Reza Amiri Moghadam's post was removed "because of some issues" and declined to say whether the delegation was still expected.
At the heart of the confusion lies the Israeli attack on Lebanon. When the ceasefire was announced, the mediators in Pakistan and Iran had been under the impression that it also extended to Lebanon. But Washington said Lebanon was not part of the ceasefire, and Israel made it clear that it had no intention of holding off.
Condemnation, truce extension
Amid fears that the fragile truce could break down in the Gulf, there have been international calls for the ceasefire to encompass Lebanon.
"Israeli actions are putting the US-Iran ceasefire under severe strain. The Iran truce should extend to Lebanon," the European Union's top diplomat Kaja Kallas said.
France's foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot condemned the strikes as "unacceptable", while his British counterpart Yvette Cooper called for the ceasefire to include Lebanon.
The Lebanese prime minister's office said Thursday would be "a national day of mourning for the martyrs and wounded of the Israeli attacks that targeted hundreds of innocent, defenceless civilians".
Hezbollah said it had fired rockets towards Israel in response to what it called a violation of the truce.
US: Lebanon not part of truce with Israel
US Vice President JD Vance backed Israel in saying Lebanon was excluded from the truce, days before he was due to lead talks with Tehran in Pakistan.
"If Iran wants to let this negotiation fall apart... over Lebanon, which has nothing to do with them, and which the United States never once said was part of the ceasefire, that's ultimately their choice," he said.
But Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said the "workable basis on which to negotiate" had already been violated, making further talks "unreasonable".
Ghalibaf listed three US violations of the truce plan: the continued attacks in Lebanon, a drone entering Iranian airspace and Washington's opposition to the country's right to uranium enrichment.
UN rights chief Volker Turk called the scale of killing in Lebanon "horrific", after strikes across the capital, Beirut, that came without warning triggered horror and panic.
"People started running left and right, and smoke was billowing," said Ali Younes, who was waiting for his wife near Corniche Al-Mazraa, one of the areas targeted.
