Israel strikes southern Lebanon as IAEA plans Iran inspections
Israeli attacks killed two people in southern Lebanon while the UN nuclear watchdog said it expects access to Iranian sites under an interim accord.
By Sofia Marchetti · World Affairs Correspondent
3 min read
Israel carried out more strikes in southern Lebanon on Friday as talks involving Israel and Lebanon were expected to resume, Al Jazeera reported. The attacks came as the International Atomic Energy Agency said it expects inspectors to return to Iran under an interim US-Iran accord aimed at ending the war involving the United States, Israel and Iran.
Al Jazeera reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel’s military would not leave occupied areas. The outlet said Israel currently holds about one-fifth of Lebanese territory.
IAEA says inspectors must have access
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said the interim US-Iran arrangement, also described as a memorandum of understanding, requires Iran to allow nuclear inspections, according to Al Jazeera and Reuters. Grossi spoke after Tehran indicated that some key sites would remain closed to inspectors until a final agreement with Washington is reached and sanctions are lifted.
“There is an agreement and to comply with that agreement, the IAEA will have to have access and inspect,” Grossi said at a news conference in Japan, according to the report. He added that the agency hoped to be in Iran soon.
Al Jazeera reported that the interim accord is part of efforts to end the US-Israel war on Iran, which it said began on February 28.
Hormuz security operation paused
The UN International Maritime Organization halted an escort operation for ships in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday after a vessel reported an attack, Al Jazeera reported. The British Navy’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency said a cargo ship reported being hit by a projectile near Oman.
The incident raised new concerns over whether the preliminary Iran deal will hold, according to Al Jazeera. The Strait of Hormuz is a key global energy route, and wartime disruption had already affected fuel supplies.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned vessels on Thursday not to pass through the strait without its explicit permission, Al Jazeera reported. The warning followed the release by Oman and the IMO of details for a new safe route; Al Jazeera said the IRGC had issued its own approved transit route in April, with lanes closer to Iran’s coast.
Deaths reported in southern Lebanon
Lebanon’s National News Agency, citing the Ministry of Public Health, reported that two people were killed and another was wounded in an Israeli raid on Mayfadoun in the Nabatieh district. Al Jazeera Arabic reported that another Israeli air raid hit Nabatieh al-Fawqa.
A US State Department official told Al Jazeera Arabic that Israeli and Lebanese delegations would resume meetings on Friday. Al Jazeera also reported that US officials have cited progress in months of talks between the two sides.
Economic restrictions ease
US President Donald Trump said at an event for American farmers that unfrozen Iranian assets would be used to buy US wheat, soya beans and corn, Al Jazeera reported. The report said Iran has not confirmed Trump’s statement.
India lifted restrictions on commercial liquefied petroleum gas supplies that were imposed during the war, according to Al Jazeera. Reuters, citing shipping data, reported that Saudi Aramco resumed oil loading at its Ras Tanura terminal in the Gulf after a halt of nearly four months.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.