U.S. President Donald Trump publicly pressed Iran to rein in Hezbollah, the Iran-aligned armed faction in Lebanon, warning that the United States could take stronger military action against Iran if it fails to do so.
Trump said on the 21st (local time) on his social media platform Truth Social that "Iran must immediately prevent its well-funded Lebanese proxy from causing trouble." The "Lebanese proxy" Trump mentioned is interpreted as referring to Hezbollah.
He added, "If not, we will strike Iran again very hard, as we did last week, and this time it will be even stronger."
The remarks appear to reflect an assessment that clashes between Hezbollah and Israel could adversely affect the implementation of the U.S.-Iran end-of-war memorandum of understanding (MOU) and subsequent peace talks.