Iran wants Lebanon included in any ceasefire, sources say
Iran has told intermediaries that Lebanon must be included in any ceasefire agreement with the United States and Israel, six regional sources familiar with Iran's position said, linking an end of the war to a halt to Israel's offensive against Hezbollah, Reuters reported.
Iran's Press TV on Wednesday cited an Iranian official saying Tehran wanted any deal with the United States to secure an end to the war both on Iran and other "resistance groups" in the region.
A senior Iranian official told Reuters on Wednesday that Tehran was still reviewing a U.S. proposal to end the regional war raging for nearly a month, indicating that Tehran had so far stopped short of rejecting it outright.
Iran says it is reviewing US proposal to end war
Iran is reviewing a U.S. proposal to end the war in the Gulf but has no intention of holding talks to end the ‌widening Middle East conflict, the country's foreign minister said on Wednesday, Reuters reported.
The comments by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi suggested some willingness by Tehran to negotiate an end to the war if its demands were met, despite an initial response that was negative as Iranian officials publicly poured scorn on the prospect of any negotiations with the U.S.
The exchange of messages through mediators "does not mean negotiations with the U.S.," Araqchi said on state television, according to Reuters.
Iran's rejection of US talks reflects deep mistrust
Iranian officials denied any talks had taken place. One military spokesperson even mocked the claim, saying Americans had been "negotiating with themselves".
The gap is clear. Washington talks about progress; Tehran rejects it outright. But this is not just a disagreement; it reflects deep mistrust, BBC reported.
That mistrust comes from recent events.
Over the past year, talks between the two sides have twice raised hopes of easing tensions, with the last round said by their Omani host to have addressed key US concerns about Iran's nuclear programme.
Meta and YouTube found liable in landmark social media addiction trial
A Los Angeles jury has handed down an unprecedented win for a young woman who sued Meta and YouTube over her childhood addiction to social media, BBC reported.
Jurors found that Meta, which owns Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, and Google, owner of YouTube, intentionally built addictive social media platforms that harmed the 20-year old's mental health.
The woman, known as Kaley, was awarded $6m (£4.5m) in damages, a result likely to have implications for hundreds of similar cases now winding their way through US courts.
Meta and Google said separately that they disagreed with the verdict and would both appeal. Meta said: "Teen mental health is profoundly complex and cannot be linked to a single app, according to BBC.
