Mark Dubowitz says Trump holds \u2018maximum leverage\u2019 over Iran as ceasefire begins<\/a><\/h4>\nMark Dubowitz, CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, analyzes President Trump’s firm Iran policy following a two-week ceasefire agreement. He highlights the regime’s weakened state after 15 months of Trump’s administration, making Iran’s 10-point peace plan with “ridiculous demands” unlikely to be accepted. Dubowitz discusses the choice facing Iran’s new regime.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\nNEW<\/span>You can now listen to Fox News articles!\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\nThe lack of a two-week pause in the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah appears to be a dealbreaker for Iran\u2019s regime as the ceasefire takes effect.<\/p>\n
While the Trump administration maintains the deal does not include the Tehran-backed terrorist movement Hezbollah, Iran is threatening to use that exclusion as a pressure point against the U.S., potentially collapsing the entire ceasefire.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, Iran\u2019s Foreign Minister<\/a> Seyed Abbas Araghchi wrote on X that “The Iran\u2013U.S. Ceasefire terms are clear and explicit: the U.S. must choose\u2014ceasefire or continued war via Israel. It cannot have both. The world sees the massacres in Lebanon. The ball is in the U.S. court, and the world is watching whether it will act on its commitments.”<\/p>\nIRAN REVEALS 10-POINT PLAN FOR PEACE WITH THE US \u2013 HERE’S WHAT’S IN IT<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n![\"Rescue](\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1200\/675\/israel-usa-lebanon-iran-war-middle-east-fox-news-008.jpg?ve=1&tl=1\")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n\n\nRescue workers search for victims at the site of an Israeli airstrike that hit a crowded neighborhood south of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, April 5, 2026.<\/span> (Hussein Malla\/AP)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nHis comments were later echoed by Iran\u2019s parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, citing Israeli attacks in Lebanon. Earlier in the day, Pakistan\u2019s Prime Minister Shehbaz \u200bSharif, a key intermediary in ceasefire talks between the U.S. and Iran over Operation Epic Fury, said the \u200btwo-week ceasefire would include Lebanon.<\/p>\n
Hezbollah reneged on a U.S. negotiated November 2024 ceasefire by entering the war against Israel<\/a> on March 2025 to aid Iran. Many experts say long-term regional security depends on Lebanon\u2019s government and army<\/a> disarming the terror group.<\/p>\n\n![\"Hezbollah](\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1200\/675\/iran-us-latam-copy.jpg?ve=1&tl=1\")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n\n\nHezbollah al-Mahdi scouts parade with big portraits of Iran’s late leader Ayatollah Khomeini, foreground, and Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, background, during an event for Jerusalem day or Al-Quds day, in the southern town of Nabatiyeh, Lebanon, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2013. The last Friday of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan is observed in many Muslim countries as Al-Quds day, as a way of expressing support to the Palestinians and emphasizing the importance of Jerusalem to Muslims.<\/span> (Hussein Malla\/AP)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nEdy Cohen, an Israeli security expert on Hezbollah, who was born in Lebanon, told Fox News Digital that “Hezbollah will never disarm itself. From its perspective, it protects two million Shiites. The only way to defeat Hezbollah is to first define it as a terrorist organization. Not to allow its political wing to exist and also to order the Lebanese army to gather in the areas under its control area by area.”<\/p>\n
He added that “Dismantling Hezbollah must be carried out in stages. The Lebanese government must first take possession of the heavy weapons. Not to allow it to concentrate except in Dahiya [a Beirut suburb that is a Hezbollah and Shiite stronghold]. Leave it in one place and control all the roads leading to it. Little by little, it can be dismantled. Israel cannot and should not disarm Hezbollah. It can only assist with bombing from above.”<\/p>\n
TRUMP\u2019S IRAN CEASEFIRE ROCKED WITHIN HOURS AMID REPORTED MISSILE, DRONE ATTACKS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n![\"U.S.](\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1200\/675\/israeli-prime-minister-netanyahu-president-donald-trump-december-2025.jpg?ve=1&tl=1\")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n\n\nU.S. President Donald Trump welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to his Mar-a-Lago club on December 29, 2025, in Palm Beach, Florida.<\/span> (Joe Raedle\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nOn Wednesday, the IDF said it hit over 100 targets in 10 minutes, including, “Hezbollah headquarters, military arrays, and command-and-control centers: Intelligence command centers and central headquarters used by Hezbollah terrorists for directing and planning terror attacks against IDF soldiers and Israeli civilians.” Reuters, quoting the country’s health ministry, said some 91 people were killed in Beirut, with a total of at least 182 killed nationwide on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The IDF added, “The large-scale strike was based on precise IDF intelligence and was planned meticulously over weeks. Most of the infrastructure that was struck was located within the heart of the civilian population, as part of Hezbollah’s cynical exploitation of Lebanese civilians as human shields in order to safeguard its operations. Prior to the strikes, steps were taken to mitigate harm to uninvolved individuals as much as possible.”<\/p>\n
Since the war started and before Wednesday\u2019s attacks, Israeli airstrikes have killed<\/a> more than 1,530 people in Lebanon, according to the Associated Press. The Long War Journal notes “that neither the Lebanese Health Ministry nor Hezbollah has provided an official count of the group\u2019s fallen fighters.”<\/p>\n\n![\"Hezbollah](\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1200\/675\/hezbollah-terrorists.jpg?ve=1&tl=1\")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n\n\nHezbollah terrorists are shown in this image. A “terrorist network” funded and operated by Hezbollah and Iran has been foiled in the United Arab Emirates, according to a report.<\/span> (Fadel Itani\/NurPhoto)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nGuila Fakhoury, whose father, Amer, was kidnapped by Hezbollah in 2019, told Fox News Digital that “Iran and the IRGC are occupying Lebanon through their proxy Hezbollah.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fakhoury, who was born in Lebanon, said, “The majority of Lebanese people believe the actions of Hezbollah caused<\/a> Israel to occupy southern Lebanon and don\u2019t want Iran and Hezbollah. Hezbollah is threatening the entire government.”<\/p>\nVANCE WARNS IRAN WILL ‘FIND OUT’ TRUMP IS ‘NOT ONE TO MESS AROUND’ IF CEASEFIRE DEAL FALLS APART<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1200\/675\/israel-usa-iran-lebanon-missile-drone-strikes-fox-news-03-17-2026-011.jpg?ve=1&tl=1\")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n\n\nA mourner holds a poster depicting Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, right, the successor to his late father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, left, as supreme leader, during the funeral procession for senior Iranian military officials and civilians killed during the U.S.-Israel campaign in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, March 11, 2026.<\/span> (Vahid Salemi\/AP)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAs the president and co-founder of the Amer Foundation, an organization dedicated to help families of illegal detainees and educate on Middle East<\/a> policy and geopolitics, she said is seeing some positive steps being taken including Lebanese President Joseph Aoun calling for negotiations with Israel.<\/p>\nShe said the “only solution is to have peace with Israel. I think there a lot of Shiites who are against Hezbollah\u2026 The majority of the Lebanese people just want peace. We hope the Trump administration will push the Lebanese government and Israel\u2019s government to start peace talks.”<\/p>\n
Last week, Iran\u2019s regime defied Lebanon\u2019s<\/a> expulsion order for its ambassador by saying he would stay, further increasing tensions in a country in the crosshairs of the latest\u00a0fighting between the Iranian-backed Hezbollah and Israel<\/a>.<\/p>\nLebanon had declared Ambassador Mohammad Reza Shibani “persona non grata” to weaken Iran\u2019s diplomatic presence and have a charg\u00e9 d’affaires at its embassy instead. But the deadline to leave the country was Sunday and an Iranian spokesperson said the ambassador\u2019s mission in Beirut continues.<\/p>\n
NEW<\/span>You can now listen to Fox News articles!\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n The lack of a two-week pause in the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah appears to be a dealbreaker for Iran\u2019s regime as the ceasefire takes effect.<\/p>\n While the Trump administration maintains the deal does not include the Tehran-backed terrorist movement Hezbollah, Iran is threatening to use that exclusion as a pressure point against the U.S., potentially collapsing the entire ceasefire.<\/p>\n On Wednesday, Iran\u2019s Foreign Minister<\/a> Seyed Abbas Araghchi wrote on X that “The Iran\u2013U.S. Ceasefire terms are clear and explicit: the U.S. must choose\u2014ceasefire or continued war via Israel. It cannot have both. The world sees the massacres in Lebanon. The ball is in the U.S. court, and the world is watching whether it will act on its commitments.”<\/p>\n IRAN REVEALS 10-POINT PLAN FOR PEACE WITH THE US \u2013 HERE’S WHAT’S IN IT<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Rescue workers search for victims at the site of an Israeli airstrike that hit a crowded neighborhood south of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, April 5, 2026.<\/span> (Hussein Malla\/AP)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n His comments were later echoed by Iran\u2019s parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, citing Israeli attacks in Lebanon. Earlier in the day, Pakistan\u2019s Prime Minister Shehbaz \u200bSharif, a key intermediary in ceasefire talks between the U.S. and Iran over Operation Epic Fury, said the \u200btwo-week ceasefire would include Lebanon.<\/p>\n Hezbollah reneged on a U.S. negotiated November 2024 ceasefire by entering the war against Israel<\/a> on March 2025 to aid Iran. Many experts say long-term regional security depends on Lebanon\u2019s government and army<\/a> disarming the terror group.<\/p>\n Hezbollah al-Mahdi scouts parade with big portraits of Iran’s late leader Ayatollah Khomeini, foreground, and Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, background, during an event for Jerusalem day or Al-Quds day, in the southern town of Nabatiyeh, Lebanon, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2013. The last Friday of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan is observed in many Muslim countries as Al-Quds day, as a way of expressing support to the Palestinians and emphasizing the importance of Jerusalem to Muslims.<\/span> (Hussein Malla\/AP)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Edy Cohen, an Israeli security expert on Hezbollah, who was born in Lebanon, told Fox News Digital that “Hezbollah will never disarm itself. From its perspective, it protects two million Shiites. The only way to defeat Hezbollah is to first define it as a terrorist organization. Not to allow its political wing to exist and also to order the Lebanese army to gather in the areas under its control area by area.”<\/p>\n He added that “Dismantling Hezbollah must be carried out in stages. The Lebanese government must first take possession of the heavy weapons. Not to allow it to concentrate except in Dahiya [a Beirut suburb that is a Hezbollah and Shiite stronghold]. Leave it in one place and control all the roads leading to it. Little by little, it can be dismantled. Israel cannot and should not disarm Hezbollah. It can only assist with bombing from above.”<\/p>\n TRUMP\u2019S IRAN CEASEFIRE ROCKED WITHIN HOURS AMID REPORTED MISSILE, DRONE ATTACKS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n U.S. President Donald Trump welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to his Mar-a-Lago club on December 29, 2025, in Palm Beach, Florida.<\/span> (Joe Raedle\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n On Wednesday, the IDF said it hit over 100 targets in 10 minutes, including, “Hezbollah headquarters, military arrays, and command-and-control centers: Intelligence command centers and central headquarters used by Hezbollah terrorists for directing and planning terror attacks against IDF soldiers and Israeli civilians.” Reuters, quoting the country’s health ministry, said some 91 people were killed in Beirut, with a total of at least 182 killed nationwide on Wednesday.<\/p>\n The IDF added, “The large-scale strike was based on precise IDF intelligence and was planned meticulously over weeks. Most of the infrastructure that was struck was located within the heart of the civilian population, as part of Hezbollah’s cynical exploitation of Lebanese civilians as human shields in order to safeguard its operations. Prior to the strikes, steps were taken to mitigate harm to uninvolved individuals as much as possible.”<\/p>\n Since the war started and before Wednesday\u2019s attacks, Israeli airstrikes have killed<\/a> more than 1,530 people in Lebanon, according to the Associated Press. The Long War Journal notes “that neither the Lebanese Health Ministry nor Hezbollah has provided an official count of the group\u2019s fallen fighters.”<\/p>\n Hezbollah terrorists are shown in this image. A “terrorist network” funded and operated by Hezbollah and Iran has been foiled in the United Arab Emirates, according to a report.<\/span> (Fadel Itani\/NurPhoto)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Guila Fakhoury, whose father, Amer, was kidnapped by Hezbollah in 2019, told Fox News Digital that “Iran and the IRGC are occupying Lebanon through their proxy Hezbollah.”\u00a0<\/p>\n Fakhoury, who was born in Lebanon, said, “The majority of Lebanese people believe the actions of Hezbollah caused<\/a> Israel to occupy southern Lebanon and don\u2019t want Iran and Hezbollah. Hezbollah is threatening the entire government.”<\/p>\n VANCE WARNS IRAN WILL ‘FIND OUT’ TRUMP IS ‘NOT ONE TO MESS AROUND’ IF CEASEFIRE DEAL FALLS APART<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n A mourner holds a poster depicting Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, right, the successor to his late father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, left, as supreme leader, during the funeral procession for senior Iranian military officials and civilians killed during the U.S.-Israel campaign in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, March 11, 2026.<\/span> (Vahid Salemi\/AP)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n As the president and co-founder of the Amer Foundation, an organization dedicated to help families of illegal detainees and educate on Middle East<\/a> policy and geopolitics, she said is seeing some positive steps being taken including Lebanese President Joseph Aoun calling for negotiations with Israel.<\/p>\n She said the “only solution is to have peace with Israel. I think there a lot of Shiites who are against Hezbollah\u2026 The majority of the Lebanese people just want peace. We hope the Trump administration will push the Lebanese government and Israel\u2019s government to start peace talks.”<\/p>\n Last week, Iran\u2019s regime defied Lebanon\u2019s<\/a> expulsion order for its ambassador by saying he would stay, further increasing tensions in a country in the crosshairs of the latest\u00a0fighting between the Iranian-backed Hezbollah and Israel<\/a>.<\/p>\n Lebanon had declared Ambassador Mohammad Reza Shibani “persona non grata” to weaken Iran\u2019s diplomatic presence and have a charg\u00e9 d’affaires at its embassy instead. But the deadline to leave the country was Sunday and an Iranian spokesperson said the ambassador\u2019s mission in Beirut continues.<\/p>\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n