Dubai: Kuwait has accused Iran and its proxies of launching drone attacks targeting it Thursday despite the two-week ceasefire in the Iran war, as Saudi Arabia said recent attacks damaged a key pipeline in the kingdom.
The statement from Kuwait’s foreign ministry, carried by the state-run KUNA news agency, put new pressure on the ceasefire ahead of planned talks Saturday between the United States and Iran in Islamabad.
Kuwait’s foreign ministry said the drone attacks “targeted some vital Kuwaiti facilities” Thursday night.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s state-run Saudi Press Agency, quoting an anonymous official, acknowledged a recent attack in the war that damaged its crucial East-West pipeline.
That pipeline carries oil out to the Red Sea and avoids the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran maintains a chokehold on despite the pause in the fighting.
Earlier, in a potential boost to Middle East ceasefire efforts, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that he authorised direct negotiations with Lebanon “as soon as possible” aimed at disarming Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants and establishing relations between the neighbours.
Israel and Lebanon have technically been at war since Israel was established in 1948, and Netanyahu later stressed that there was no ceasefire between them. In a video statement, he said Israel will keep striking Hezbollah until security is restored in northern Israel.
There was no immediate response from Lebanon.
But Israel-Lebanon negotiations were expected to begin next week at the State Department in Washington, according to a US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The prospect of talks appeared to bolster the tentative ceasefire in the Iran war that has staggered under the weight of Israel’s bombardment of Beirut, Tehran’s continued chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz and uncertainty over whether talks can find common ground.
However, later Thursday, US President Donald Trump appeared to cast doubt on the effectiveness of the ceasefire, writing on his social media platform: “Iran is doing a very poor job, dishonourable some would say, of allowing Oil to go through the Strait of Hormuz.”
“That is not the agreement we have!” Trump wrote.
Netanyahu’s authorisation of negotiations with Lebanon came amid disagreement over whether the ceasefire deal included a pause in fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, and a day after Israel pounded Beirut with airstrikes, the deadliest day in Lebanon since the war began February 28.
Israel has fought multiple wars and launched several major invasions of Lebanon over the years, most recently sending in troops last month in response to Hezbollah fire on Israel’s northern border communities.
The launch of direct peace talks is a significant achievement, though reaching an agreement will be difficult after decades of hostilities, Hezbollah’s continued presence and longstanding disagreements over the countries’ shared land border.
The talks in Washington are expected to be handled on the American side by the US ambassador to Lebanon, Michel Issa, and on the Israeli side by the Israeli ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, according to the person familiar with the planning.
It was not immediately clear who would represent Lebanon. The timing and location of the talks was first reported by Axios.
After declaring victory with the ceasefire announcement, both Iran and the US have appeared to apply pressure on each other. Semiofficial news agencies in Iran suggested forces have mined the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for oil that Tehran has closed.
Trump warned that US forces would hit Iran harder than before if it did not fulfil the agreement.
Trump expressed concern again Thursday over reports that Iran’s military was charging tolls on tankers seeking to pass through the strait.
“They better not be and, if they are, they better stop now!” he wrote on social media.
Questions also remained over what will happen to Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium at the heart of tensions, how and when normal traffic will resume through the strait, and what happens to Iran’s ability to launch future missile attacks and support armed proxies in the region.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a message on Telegram that Iran’s decision to accept a ceasefire “is not a sign of weakness but a way to solidify Iran’s proud victories”.
Despite disputes over the ceasefire, it appears to have halted weeks of missile and drone attacks by Iran on its Gulf Arab neighbors and Israel, with no new launches reported Thursday.
There were no reports of strikes by the US or Israel targeting Iran.
Trump said Thursday that he has asked Netanyahu to dial back the strikes in Lebanon.
Lebanon’s health ministry said more than 300 people were killed and more than 1,100 wounded Wednesday by Israeli strikes on central Beirut and other areas of Lebanon that Israel said targeted Hezbollah, which joined the war in support of Tehran.
Israel said Thursday it killed an aide to Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem, Ali Yusuf Harshi. Hezbollah did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A New York-based think tank warned the ceasefire ” hovers on the verge of collapse ” following Israel’s strikes Wednesday.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported that an Israeli strike overnight killed at least seven people in southern Lebanon.
