Washington Rejects Iranian Demands to Include Hezbollah in Islamabad Ceasefire Framework

FDD report confirms the Trump administration is excluding Lebanon from US-Iran peace talks to prevent Hezbollah from rearming during the current conflict.

By: AXL Media

Published: Apr 11, 2026, 4:35 AM EDT

Source: Information for this report was sourced from FDD

Strategic Isolation of the Iranian Proxy Network

As high-level negotiations begin in Islamabad, a significant diplomatic rift has emerged regarding the geographic scope of the current truce. The Trump administration, led by Vice President JD Vance and envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, has rejected a proposal by Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf to include Lebanon in the permanent ceasefire discussions. President Donald Trump has asserted that the representatives dispatched to Pakistan are there only to negotiate for Iran, stating that Lebanon was never part of the temporary agreement that began on April 7, 2026. This stance aims to isolate Hezbollah from the broader regional de-escalation, allowing Israeli forces to continue degrading the group’s operational capabilities.

Israeli Support for Direct Lebanese Engagement

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has aligned himself with the American position, emphasizing that the conflict in Lebanon remains a separate theater of war. Netanyahu has reportedly instructed his cabinet to prepare for "direct negotiations with Lebanon" rather than allowing Hezbollah's fate to be decided through Iranian intermediaries. This approach is intended to force the Lebanese government to act independently of Tehran’s influence. Israeli military leadership views the current moment as a vital opportunity to dismantle Hezbollah's infrastructure, which was previously protected under a failed 2024 U.S. and French-brokered agreement that the group allegedly used to rearm.

Failure of the 2024 Disarmament Mandate

The current conflict in Lebanon follows the collapse of the November 27, 2024, ceasefire, which required Hezbollah to withdraw all fighters and military assets north of the Litani River. While that deal tasked the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) with securing southern Lebanon and disarming the group, Hezbollah retained enough of its arsenal to deter the LAF from taking forcible action. Analysts David Daoud and Joe Truzman note that Hezbollah’s continued control over the Lebanese state has prevented the implementation of multiple government decisions, including the deportation of IRGC members and the demilitarization of Beirut. This history of non-compliance has made Israeli and U.S. officials skeptical of any new multi-party ceasefire.