Iran’s supreme leader has conditioned any lasting peace agreement with the United States on an end to Israeli military operations in Lebanon, injecting a new demand into fragile ceasefire efforts as global oil prices tumbled roughly 5% on signals that Tehran would suspend its strikes.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called for the “absolute, unconditional termination” of Israel’s attacks on Lebanon, framing the issue as a prerequisite for de-escalation with Washington. The remarks widen the scope of negotiations beyond the direct US-Iran confrontation to include the broader regional conflict.
Tehran has reportedly indicated it will keep its retaliatory operations suspended for as long as a US pause in hostilities holds. That conditional commitment followed Washington’s decision to halt a two-week bombing campaign against Iranian targets, which prompted Iran to freeze its own counterstrikes.
Energy markets responded swiftly to the prospect of reduced tensions in the Middle East. Both Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate fell by about 5%, unwinding some of the risk premium that had built up during the height of the exchanges. The Middle East accounts for a substantial share of global crude supply, and traders had been pricing in the threat of disruption to shipping and production.
The developments follow an earlier period in which the United States paused its strikes for the first time in two weeks amid ongoing talks, easing an escalation that had rattled the region for months.
Khamenei’s linkage of the Lebanon file to any settlement underscores the difficulty of translating a temporary military pause into a durable arrangement. Israel has not publicly signaled that it will alter its posture toward Lebanon, and it remains unclear whether the new condition will feature in any formal negotiating framework.
Analysts caution that the current calm rests on reciprocal restraint rather than a signed accord, leaving markets and diplomats watching for any breach that could reignite hostilities. The suspension of strikes on both sides has held so far, but neither party has described the arrangement as permanent.
The coming days are expected to test whether the pause can be converted into structured talks. Much will depend on whether Washington and Tehran can reconcile Iran’s expanded demands with the positions of Israel, whose actions in Lebanon now sit at the center of Khamenei’s conditions for peace.