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US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth says "we are on track" to sign a deal with Iran, and it's "not a matter of if" but when.

In an interview with the BBC's US partner CBS, Hegseth says: "We're attuned to what's happening with Hezbollah firing rockets into northern Israel, which they need to stop doing," adding that "Iran needs to encourage them to stop doing that in very adamant ways".

"If Iran wants this to hold", Hegseth warns, "they need to pull back Hezbollah, no doubt".

Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent in Beirut

Lebanon had already become a major obstacle for a deal between the US and Iran, and the Israeli attack on the southern suburbs of Beirut, where the Iranian-backed armed group Hezbollah is based, can further complicate those efforts.

Iran insists that any truce should also include the end of the war here, something that has been rejected by Israel, which appears to have been sidelined in the negotiations.

Israeli officials say the conflict against Hezbollah is separate to the one in Iran and, in Israel, there is public support for the war in Lebanon to continue.

If Iran is successful in linking the two arenas, Israel may be forced to stop its military activities in Lebanon.

Many will say the timing of this attack, which Israel says was in response to Hezbollah’s attacks against northern Israel, was no coincidence, amid the expectation of the possible signing of the deal.

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The full text has not been released – in fact, we still do not know if it all its terms have been agreed by both sides - but there seems to be a consensus in Israel that this is a setback for the country: the military successes do not appear to have been translated into something that can be seen as a strategic victory.

Based on leaks of the deal, an Israeli military official described it as “very bad” and “catastrophic” to the country’s Ma’ariv newspaper.

A defence official told N12 “none of the goals set by Israel have received an immediate response in the agreement.”

Finally, Iran had vowed to respond to any strike on Beirut by attacking Israel. A deal that was described as being close is once again at risk of derailing.

Israel's foreign ministry says that "Iran’s proxy, Hezbollah, is the one that attacked Israel again this morning, completely unprovoked".

"Hezbollah constantly fires at Israeli civilians", the foreign ministry says in a statement on X, adding that such attacks have continued "even after the ceasefire".

"It was Hezbollah that launched an unprovoked attack on Israel in March, acting under the orders of its Iranian masters," it adds.

The statement comes in response to comments that were made earlier on Sunday by Iran's chief negotiator, who said Israel's fresh strikes on Beirut show the US is not fulfilling its commitments.

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Three people were killed in an Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs on Sunday, according to Lebanon's civil defence agency.

The civil defence agency said in a statement carried by Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA), that "the bodies of three martyrs were recovered from under the rubble".

NNA reports that the number of those injured in the strike has reached 15, while significant damage was caused to buildings and shops.

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US President Donald Trump says Israel's strike on Beirut earlier on Sunday "should not have happened".

"Particularly on a special day when we are so close to a Peace Deal with Iran," he writes on Truth Social.

He says Israel has a "right to defend itself" but the attack it was responding to was "very small and meaningless".

He adds that the US and Iran are "very close to a Deal that will bring peace to the region, including to Lebanon, and all sides should stand down".

Trump says there should be no more attacks by Israel or "any other party", adding that this could be the "beginning of a long and beautiful peace — Let’s not blow it!".

Sebastian Usher
Global affairs correspondent, reporting from Jerusalem

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Iran's chief negotiator has said that Israel's attacks on Beirut in Lebanon show the US is not fulfilling its commitments.

Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf made his comments after Israeli forces struck Hezbollah targets in the southern suburbs of Beirut, in response to rocket fire by Hezbollah into northern Israel.

It comes as the US was indicating that an initial deal with Iran to end their war could be signed today.

Israel's offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon almost reignited the Iran war last week after Tehran fired missiles into Israel in response to the Israeli military hitting Beirut.

President Trump quickly intervened to demand that both sides hold their fire, which they did.

He may have to do the same again now. The situation in Lebanon will be one of the toughest issues to be negotiated if and when the US and Iran sign an initial agreement.

In the past two days, both sides have shown a commitment to finalising that deal imminently. The latest flare up puts that in doubt but by no means rules it out.

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Israel has carried out a fresh strike in Beirut's southern suburbs amid reports of an imminent deal between Iran and the US.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says it struck a Hezbollah command centre in the Dahieh suburb of Beirut following "Hezbollah’s launch of aerial targets toward Israeli territory" earlier on Sunday.

Iran's chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned that the latest strike shows the US is not fulfilling its commitments and either lacks the will or ability to do so.

Iran has long insisted Lebanon be covered by the peace deal being negotiated with Washington. Ghalibaf said there was "no point" in talking about continuing "down this path".

The strike on Lebanon's capital comes after US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that a deal to end the war with Iran would be signed on Sunday.

Writing on Truth Social, he said the deal would see the Strait of Hormuz immediately opened "to all" and would guarantee Iran is never able to build a nuclear weapon.

However, Iran's foreign ministry has expressed caution over the timeline for signing the deal, warning that we will "have to wait and see about the exact date".