Lebanon's ceasefire frays as Iran says talks have made little progress

On June 2 the United States, Bahrain, and Kuwait intercepted ballistic missiles and drones fired by the Revolutionary Guard at American bases after a United States strike on Qeshm Island. The Guard Navy said it had coordinated 24 commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz in the previous day. Secretary of state Marco Rubio told Congress that Iran had agreed to negotiate aspects of its nuclear program even while pausing wider peace talks.

President Donald Trump and Rubio said ceasefire talks were still going on, contradicting Iranian media. In Iraq, Asaib Ahl al-Haq and the Imam Ali Brigades said they would hand weapons to the government, while Kataib Hezbollah and Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba refused. Central Command said a fighter jet fired a Hellfire missile to disable the Botswana-flagged tanker M/T Lexie as it headed toward Kharg Island.

Israel accused Hezbollah of breaking a ceasefire reached the day before. Strikes were reported in Nabatieh and Tyre. Lebanon's health ministry put the toll from a strike near a hospital in Tyre at least four dead and 127 wounded, including 39 health workers.

By June 3 Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said no tangible progress had been made, though contact continued to try to prevent an attack on Beirut. Rubio told a House committee that Operation Epic Fury, the name for the opening phase of United States operations in the war, had concluded. The House voted 215 to 208 for a resolution to limit war powers and halt military operations in Iran.

Bahrain said it intercepted three Iranian missiles and drones aimed at civilian facilities. Kuwait said it shot down 13 ballistic missiles and 17 drones in attacks that killed one person and injured 63 at Kuwait International Airport. Kuwait then expelled two Iranian diplomats and summoned Iran's acting charge d'affaires.

On June 4 Revolutionary Guard general Esmail Qaani said the Iran-United States ceasefire depended on the ceasefire in Lebanon. Supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei declared victory over Israel and the United States. Hezbollah's secretary-general Naim Qassem rejected a ceasefire without an Israeli withdrawal and refused disarmament, while French president Emmanuel Macron said France and the United States planned a coordination mechanism and called on Hezbollah to give its weapons to the Lebanese army.