Israel, Lebanon delegations begin fourth round of talks in Washington

Israel halts strikes on Lebanon after Iran walks away from peace talks

It comes despite recent diplomatic efforts to extend a fragile truce and reopen the vital waterway through which about one-fifth of global oil and natural gas supplies once flowed.

The United States is reportedly intensifying efforts to secure a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah as wider regional tensions complicate ongoing diplomacy.

“I don’t care if they’re over, honestly,’’ he told Eamon Javers of CNBC when asked about reports that the Iranians, angry at continued Israeli strikes in Lebanon and low-level conflict with the United States in the Persian Gulf, were threatening to stop negotiating. “I really don’t care. I couldn’t care less. If they’re over, they’re over.”