Middle East crisis live: Iran threatens ‘harsh response’ if Israel fails to cease attacks in Lebanon

By Taz Ali · The Guardian World

Israel’s continued military operation in southern Lebanon puts at risk the agreement reached between Iran and the US on Sunday Full report: Iran says peace deal dependent on Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon Analysis: Where does Iran deal leave US-Israel relationship? Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the crisis in the Middle East. Iran’s military has threatened to respond to Israel after strikes in southern Lebanon killed four people, despite an agreement being reached between Tehran and Washington to end the Middle East war, including in Lebanon. A US-Iran deal aimed at ending the Middle East war will be signed at Switzerland’s mountainside Burgenstock resort on Friday, the Swiss foreign ministry confirmed to AFP. The site, located near Lucerne in central Switzerland, is difficult to access and therefore easily secured. It “was proposed by the Pakistani and Qatari mediators, as well as by the US and Iran”, Switzerland’s foreign ministry said. Two months of final negotiations will begin immediately after the initial deal between the US and Iran is signed . Negotiations will continue for a 60-day window after the ceremony, officials told AFP, leading to a plan for the lifting of economic sanctions and decisions on the fate of Iran’s nuclear programme. Trump said that he would send the deal with Iran to the US Congress for a review. “I like the idea, send it to Congress please,” he said at the start of a meeting with the UAE president Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on the sidelines of the G7 summit. “I mean who wouldn’t approve it.” Speaking at the G7, Trump has said the strait of Hormuz will be open by Friday and that the full text of the peace deal will be released in a “formal setting”. Trump also said he expects the “second stage” of the deal “to go quickly”. The US will allow Iran to immediately start selling oil and fuel again as part of the deal to end the war, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. I…