By Parisa Hafezi and Phil Stewart
DUBAI/WASHINGTON, June 14 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump criticised an Israeli strike on Lebanon that could complicate attempts to finalise a framework deal between the United States and Iran on Sunday on ending their war, but said an agreement was nonetheless close.
Iranian negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf had earlier said Israel's attack on the southern suburbs of Beirut, which Israel said targeted Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants, showed the U.S. lacked the will or ability to fulfil its commitments.
"This morning’s attack on Beirut should not have happened, particularly on a special day when we are so close to a Peace Deal with Iran," Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.
"We are very close to a Deal that will bring peace to the region, including to Lebanon, and all sides should stand down."
The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, launched on February 28, has stoked conflict between Israel and Iran-aligned Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Israel has said it is not party to the planned U.S.-Iran deal.
"If you lack the will and ability to fulfil your commitments, speaking of continuing the path is not possible," Qalibaf wrote on X, in an apparent reference to peace moves.
Mohammad Jafar Assadi, deputy commander of Iran's top joint military command, was quoted by state media as saying Israeli "crimes" in Beirut's southern suburbs would not go unanswered.
Trump and mediator Pakistan had said on Saturday they expected the deal would be signed on Sunday, but Tehran cast doubt over the timing even before the strike on Beirut.
A senior Iranian official told Reuters that, under the terms of the draft deal, the U.S. would agree to release $25 billion of frozen Iranian assets, while Tehran would agree not to produce or acquire nuclear weapons.
Qatari negotiators flew to Tehran on Sunday morning as part of an effort to finalise the agreement, a source with knowledge of the situation told Reuters.
ISRAELI STRIKE
The Israeli military said on Sunday that Hezbollah had launched three projectiles towards communities in northern Israel in violation of a ceasefire in Lebanon.
Israel then fired at what it called Hezbollah targets in the Dahiyeh neighbourhood of Beirut in an attack that Lebanon's civil defence said killed three people.
Fox News quoted an unidentified diplomat involved in the talks as saying the Israeli strikes were complicating efforts to finalise the U.S.-Iran deal, and describing them as an attempt to sabotage those efforts.
Israel did not immediately respond to the assertion.
Israel has said it will retain freedom of operations in Lebanon, while Tehran has made a full ceasefire there an important component of its demands.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also clashed with Trump over U.S. demands that Israel curb military action in Lebanon to allow Washington to reach a deal with Tehran.
In Sunday's post, Trump said there "should be no more attacks by Israel anywhere in Lebanon, but there should also be no more attacks by any other party, including Hezbollah, against Israel".
UNCERTAINTY OVER TIMING OF SIGNING
Thousands of people have been killed in the war, mostly in Iran and Lebanon. Iran has struck Israel and Gulf states that host U.S. bases, and has effectively blockaded the Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery for global oil supplies. This has pushed up global energy prices, and the U.S. has blocked Iranian ports.
Trump said on Saturday the deal with Iran was scheduled to be signed on Sunday, his 80th birthday. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Islamabad was preparing for an electronic signing, with technical-level talks to follow.
But Iran's Fars news agency, citing an informed source, said on Sunday Tehran had not yet taken a final decision on the framework agreement, with reviews of its political, legal and technical aspects ongoing at expert and decision-making levels.
Draft terms of the agreement described to Reuters by multiple sources indicate the U.S. would begin releasing frozen Iranian assets and waive sanctions on its oil exports, in return for Iran opening the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran's nuclear programme would then be addressed during a 60-day period of talks.
The senior Iranian official told Reuters on Sunday that Iran agreed to maintain the nuclear status quo, including no uranium enrichment or expanding nuclear facilities, until a final deal was reached.
A U.S. official said the agreement would ultimately lead to the dismantling of Iran’s nuclear programme, with its stockpile of highly enriched uranium to be destroyed and removed.
The senior Iranian official said the draft deal would allow Iran, which denies seeking a nuclear bomb, to dilute its enriched uranium inside the country.
US FOCUSES ON OPENING STRAIT
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the end of the U.S. naval blockade on Iran would "start immediately" once an accord was signed, but the timing would depend on the strait reopening. He said the U.S. had the capacity to clear the strait to ensure safe transit for ships.
Hegseth, speaking on CBS News' Face the Nation, said the U.S. planned to keep enough military force in the region to "make sure the military option is still there" during negotiations over Iran's nuclear programme.
While U.S. and Israeli bombing has heavily degraded Iran's military-industrial base and damaged its military, experts say the war has entrenched the dominance of Iran's hardline Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
At pro-government rallies across Iran on Saturday night, residents and news agencies reported that hardliners opposed to the framework agreement loudly voiced their dissatisfaction.
A resident in the northeastern city of Mashhad told Reuters that some protesters chanted "Death to the compromiser," in an apparent reference to Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, and "Compromiser, resign, resign".
(Reporting by Reuters bureaus; Writing by Kim Coghill and Timothy Heritage; Editing by Sergio Non, William Mallard and Alex Richardson)
