Iran has told intermediaries that Lebanon must be included in any ceasefire agreement with the United States and Israel, six regional sources familiar with Iran's position said on Wednesday, according to Reuters, linking an end of the war to a halt to Israel's strikes on Hezbollah.
Iran's Press TV on Wednesday cited an Iranian official saying Tehran wanted any deal with the United States to secure an end to the war both on Iran and other "resistance groups" in the region.
A senior Iranian official told Reuters that Tehran was still reviewing a US proposal to end the regional war raging for nearly a month, indicating that Tehran had so far stopped short of rejecting it outright.
The six regional sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, said Tehran had informed mediators as early as mid-March that it sought a deal that would also stop Israel's strikes on the Hezbollah terrorist organization in Lebanon.
There was no immediate response from Iran's foreign ministry, Israel's foreign ministry or the Israeli military to questions from Reuters on the matter.
A senior Trump administration official said ending Iran's "proxy activities" and disarming Hezbollah were "crucial to ensuring peace and stability in Lebanon and across the region."
One of the regional sources told Reuters that Hezbollah had received "Iranian guarantees" on its inclusion in any wider deal.
Hezbollah began launching rockets and missiles towards northern Israel on March 2, one day after Israel and the US launched joint strikes on Iran.
A Hezbollah official had previously stated that the terrorist organization will not intervene if the United States carries out "limited" strikes on Iran, but warned the group would intervene if Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was eliminated in the first round of the strikes, were to be targeted.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar on Wednesday sent a letter to the UN Security Council in which he wrote that since March 2, Hezbollah has carried out "coordinated indiscriminate attacks against Israel's civilian population," adding that the group is acting "at the request and behest of its patrons in Tehran."
According to the letter, more than 3,500 rockets, missiles, and UAVs have been launched at Israeli territory, including from areas south of the Litani River.