Al-Riyadh newspaper | Trump: The agreement in the Middle East is in its final stages

“Israel” demands the evacuation of the city of Tire (Reuters)

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that negotiators have reached the final stages of talks in an effort to reach an agreement to end the war in the Middle East, after Iran and Israel announced a halt to mutual attacks that raised fears of a renewed conflict on a large scale.

Trump has previously spoken several times about the imminent signing of a memorandum of understanding with Iran, without diplomatic efforts having resulted in any agreement so far. Trump said after attending a basketball final match in New York, “We are in the final stages of reaching an agreement that will be very good.” He added, in response to a question, that reaching an agreement “will take two or three days.”

The US President also said early Tuesday that two pilots on a US Army Apache helicopter that crashed near the Strait of Hormuz were “fine.” He added in a comment he made on the runway at John F. Kennedy International Airport before returning to Washington, D.C. “No one was hurt.” He added that the US administration will issue a report at a later time. A report indicated that it is not yet clear whether the helicopter was shot down by Iranian fire, suffered a technical malfunction, or encountered another problem.

Iran insists that stopping the war in Lebanon be part of the understanding it wants to reach with Washington, while Israel wants to separate the two tracks.

Iran fired missiles at Israel in response to Israel’s bombing of the southern suburb of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold, on Sunday. In response, Israel launched attacks on Iran despite American pressure to calm down.

After that, Iran launched another missile salvo before announcing the cessation of military operations. Hours later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that “the fire on that front had been contained.” Iran threatened that it would attack Israel again if it continued its strikes in Lebanon, while Israel vowed a strong response if Iran attacked it again.

Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz pledged to continue the military campaign against Hezbollah, ignoring the Iranian warning, stressing that the army would strike the southern suburbs of Beirut in response to any attack on northern Israel.

US President Donald Trump urged Israel and Iran to cease the exchange of fire, in light of reports of increasing disagreements between him and Netanyahu. But Netanyahu said in a televised speech that he informed Trump that “Israel has the full right to defend itself, and we exercise this right whenever necessary,” adding, “If Iran makes the mistake of resuming attacks on us, we will respond with full force.” Axios reported that Israel was about to carry out major strikes on Iran, before Trump called Netanyahu and asked him to calm down. “I told him, ‘You have to be careful, otherwise you will find yourself alone,'” the website quoted Trump as saying. US Vice President J.D. Vance told Fox News that despite the common interests between the United States and Israel, their positions do not always coincide.

The exchange of bombing between Iran and Israel came at a moment when diplomatic efforts to end the conflict were intensifying, mediated by Pakistan. Foreign Ministry spokesman Ismail Baghaei warned that the diplomatic track would be affected by the escalation, even though “diplomatic consultations continue under all circumstances.”

For its part, the US Army announced that its forces prevented the passage of the oil tanker (Marifex), which flies the Palau flag, in the Gulf of Oman while it was heading towards Iran. The tanker was not carrying any cargo.

Israel continues to launch raids on southern Lebanon, according to what the official Lebanese media reported, with the Hebrew state insisting on moving forward with its attacks against Hezbollah. Meanwhile, Hezbollah announced that it attacked Israeli forces in southern Lebanon on Monday, but did not claim responsibility for attacks on northern Israel.

The Israeli army also called on Tuesday to evacuate the city of Tire, including the Christian neighborhood, and the camps and neighborhoods surrounding it in southern Lebanon. The Israeli army spokeswoman for the Arab media, Ella Wawiyeh, said in a press statement yesterday: “An urgent warning to the residents of the city of Tire – including the Christian neighborhood – and the camps and neighborhoods surrounding it… We call on you, in the interest of your safety, to evacuate your homes and move north of the Zahrani River.” She added that this comes in light of “the terrorist Hezbollah violating the ceasefire agreement and targeting the Israeli home front, forcing the IDF to act forcefully against it.” The spokeswoman warned residents, saying, “Your presence near Hezbollah members, its facilities, or its combat means puts your lives in danger,” noting that “every building used by Hezbollah for military purposes may be vulnerable to targeting.”

In addition, the Iranian Ministry of Security announced in a statement the dismantling of 4 operational cells belonging to terrorist groups, the arrest of 19 terrorist elements, and the elimination of 5 others, in addition to the seizure of large quantities of weapons and explosive materials. Mehr News Agency reported that the Iranian Ministry of Security announced on Monday in a statement that with the efforts of members of the security service in Sistan and Baluchestan Province and by taking advantage of popular reports, 5 members of operational cells affiliated with terrorist groups were eliminated, in addition to eliminating a group of criminal elements in the southeast of the country, and 19 terrorists were arrested.

The statement explained that these operations included dismantling a number of armed cells and thwarting plans aimed at carrying out bombing operations inside Iran, while seizing large quantities of weapons and explosive materials, as part of intensive intelligence and field efforts.