ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The White House on Wednesday insisted that Lebanon is not part of the US-Iran ceasefire deal amid Israel's ongoing bombardment of its neighbor, with Tehran accusing Washington of breaching the truce framework and warning of retaliation.

"Lebanon is not part of the ceasefire. That has been relayed to all parties involved in the ceasefire,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a press conference in which she hailed the supposed successes of the US military campaign.

Despite the reaching of a two-week ceasefire deal between Washington and Tehran that brought a tentative halt to the regional conflict that broke out in late February, Israel's targeting of Hezbollah in Lebanon has continued unabated.

Earlier on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump said that Lebanon was not included in the ceasefire deal "because of Hezbollah," an exclusion poised to hamper Pakistan-mediated peace talks scheduled for Friday. 

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) newly appointed Aerospace Force commander Majid Mousavi, reacting to the attacks on Lebanon, said on Wednesday that "an attack on Hezbollah is an attack on Iran," he wrote on X. 

Mousavi added that its forces are now preparing a "heavy response" to Israeli strikes on the Lebanese group, with the IRGC warning of a "regrettable response” to Israel if attacks are not immediately halted. 

Several oil tankers were reportedly stopped from passing through the Strait of Hormuz following Israel's Wednesday attacks on Lebanon, Iran’s IRGC-affiliated Fars news agency reported.

“Iran has agreed to open the Strait of Hormuz,” Leavitt said, denying the claims made by Iranian state media regarding the Strait’s closure by saying “What they’re saying publicly is different to privately.”

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Washington violated three clauses of the 10-point negotiating framework, including the failure to implement a ceasefire in Lebanon, the “entry of an intruding drone into Iran airspace,” and the “denial of Iran’s right to [nuclear] enrichment,” in a post on X.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf on Wednesday said that three clauses of the 10-point negotiating framework with the US have been violated, namely; Israeli strikes in Lebanon, the entry of an "enemy" drone into Iranian airspace, and the denial of Iran's right… pic.twitter.com/fiSIjCVYwG

— The New Region (@thenewregion) April 8, 2026

Tehran’s ceasefire terms are "clear and explicit," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi said, noting that Washington should choose between a "ceasefire or continued war via Israel" and that the US cannot have both, he said in a post on X. 

"The world sees the massacres in Lebanon. The ball is in the US court, and the world is watching whether it will act on its commitments," he added.