Lebanon PM denies US requested unilateral ceasefire

The US asked Lebanon to declare a unilateral ceasefire to revive stalled talks to end hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, according to a report later denied by the Lebanese prime minister.

- Peter Beaumont

Two unnamed sources, a Lebanese political source and a senior diplomat made the claim to Reuters, saying that the US envoy, Amos Hochstein, had communicated the proposal to Lebanon's caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, this week.

The Biden administration, which critics say has made a series of missteps in its handling of the wars in Gaza and Lebanon, has come up with a number of proposals to end the fighting in both conflicts, all of which have come to nothing.

The claim emerged as Kamal Kharrazi, an adviser to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, told the pro-Iran broadcaster Al Mayadeen yesterday that Tehran was likely to increase the range of its ballistic missiles. Kharrazi reiterated that Iran's nuclear doctrine could change if it faced an existential threat.

The latest flurry of US diplomacy, during which the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, again appeared more optimistic than parties to the conflict about bringing it to an end, comes against the backdrop of the US presidential election next week.