Live Updates: Israel-Hezbollah fighting casts cloud over prospects for U.S.-Iran peace deal

Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun has accused Iran of exploiting his country as a bargaining chip in the ongoing war with the U.S. and Israel. In an interview with CNN, he also delivered a rare criticism of Iran-backed Hezbollah, saying "the Lebanese people are not your people."

Speaking to CNN's Christiane Amanpour, Aoun said "[it's] our people being killed, our houses being destroyed… It's unacceptable."

He said Hezbollah must understand there's "no other way to solve this problem and to save what's left except through negotiation and diplomacy."

The Iranian Navy has fired a missile and a drone as warning shots against two U.S. destroyers in the Sea of Oman, according to an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps statement on Friday.

The IRGC said this was in retaliation for the "hostilities" and "seizure of commercial vessels" by the U.S. Navy in the region.

Overnight, U.S. forces boarded the sanctioned tanker vessel MT Davina in the Indian Ocean, according to a statement from U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.

In a post on social media, INDOPACOM said: "We will continue global maritime enforcement to disrupt illicit networks and interdict vessels providing material support to Iran."

Lebanese parliament speaker and Hezbollah ally Nabih Berri said Friday that the Iran-backed group would withdraw from the area south of Lebanon's Litani River if Israel pulls out and a comprehensive ceasefire is reached.

"I agree to ... Hezbollah's withdrawal from south of the Litani River in parallel with an Israeli withdrawal from the areas it occupies" and "a complete and comprehensive ceasefire without conditions," Berri, who acts as Hezbollah's mediator, said in a statement.

However, Berri criticized the current Lebanon-Israel ceasefire, saying it is "booby-trapped" and should have included an "unconditional ceasefire on land, sea, and air."

The continued war in the Middle East is pushing millions of people in some of the world's most vulnerable countries into hunger, according to projections by the United Nations' World Food Programme (WFP).

A WFP report warned in March that if the regional conflict continued and the price of oil remained at around $100 per barrel, 45 million people could fall into acute food insecurity. An updated report now confirms that scenario is unfolding.

Countries already facing conflict and economic hardship are the most exposed to the crisis because they are highly dependent on imports as the prices for fuel, food, fertilizer and humanitarian aid continue to increase, the agency said.

The report also says that due to the crisis, an additional 2.5 million people in Somalia, 1.3 million in Sri Lanka and 2.3 million in Afghanistan are struggling to meet basic food needs.

Israel's air force struck a Lebanese village on Friday following warnings for several areas of imminent attacks against Hezbollah, after the Iran-backed militants rejected a truce brokered by the United States.

The Israeli military's Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee on Friday warned residents of six towns and villages including south Lebanon's Sarafand, a town on the coastal road between Tyre and Sidon, to immediately evacuate.

He earlier warned residents of three villages north of the Litani River in southern Lebanon to leave their homes.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported mass displacement from the three villages named in the warning, and it subsequently reported a strike on one of the villages, Arqoun.

Overnight, Israeli strikes killed seven people in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre, a source from Lebanon's civil defense told AFP.

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs, Kazem Gharibabadi, told Iranian state broadcaster IRIB that any agreement with the United States must fully safeguard the country's interests, stressing that Tehran will not sign or accept any understanding unless all concerns are resolved.

Gharibabadi emphasized Iran's independence in decision-making, saying the Islamic Republic "does not wait for the green light of any country" and acts strictly according to what it considers its own interests. He also pointed to Iran's recent military response to the U.S. and Israel, describing it as a decisive show of strength.

 In a recorded phone call from inside Iran's Evin Prison, Iranian-American journalist Reza Valizadeh made a plea to the U.S. government to obtain medical help for him and other Americans detained in Tehran's notorious prison.

"Even if treating our diseases is a big demand, it would have at least asked the Iranian authorities to reduce not all the physical pressure and mental torture against us in captivity, but at least some of it," Valizadeh said in the recording recently obtained by CBS News.

Since the U.S. and Israel launched airstrikes against Iran three months ago, the country has been under a near-total internet blackout, imposed by the regime, with little to no communication between the detained American and his advocates. Valizadeh's message was transmitted after the regime loosened those restrictions last week.

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Despite a statement from Hezbollah saying it had rejected the terms of a ceasefire in Lebanon, President Trump insisted Thursday, "Hezbollah called us and said, 'How about stopping?'"

"I think you're gonna see things happen over there," Mr. Trump told reporters Thursday in the Oval Office. "That's been like a little bit of a different world, but it's interconnected with Iran. And it would be really nice if Lebanon could have some peace. Lebanon's been under attack for so many years. They're always like an underdog. And it would be really nice if it could end."

Iran has said any lasting peace deal with the U.S. and Israel would also have to include an end to hostilities in Lebanon.

Mr. Trump said he has spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Lebanese leadership and Hezbollah leadership about ending the conflict there.

If Iran doesn't voluntarily give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, President Trump appeared skeptical Thursday of the idea of sending troops into Iran to remove it.

Iran's near-weapons-grade uranium is a key point of contention in its talks with the U.S., and Mr. Trump has pushed for Iran to agree to have it removed in exchange for any longer-term deal.

Asked by a reporter if he had considered sending in Navy SEALs or Army Rangers to remove the uranium, Mr. Trump responded: "Yeah, but I didn't want to be Jimmy Carter," likely referring to a failed Carter-era mission to rescue American hostages in Iran.

Mr. Trump said his administration considered a special operation to take Iran's uranium early in the war, but he decided that Iran "would've found out," and an operation of its kind would have taken weeks and required heavy equipment to be dropped into Iran.

He also said "there's no reason" to carry out such a mission.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday, President Trump reiterated a claim he's made several times that the U.S. has "essentially wiped out" Iran's military.

"There's some missiles left, but very few compared to what they had," he said. 

Mr. Trump said if Iran were to kill U.S. troops, he would consider that "a good reason" to restart the war, which the U.S. says is still in a ceasefire despite recent missile attacks from both Iran and the U.S. military. "If they kill U.S. troops, I think I would [restart the war] very quickly," he said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, in an interview with Lebanese media outlet Al Mayadeen, said the war "became a source of strength for Iran."

"Yes, we suffered many losses, but from a strategic standpoint, we achieved major accomplishments," he said, according to a translation from the outlet.

Araghchi also said Iran's response to the initial U.S.-Israeli strikes in late February surprised many.

"No one expected us to be able to endure and resist for 40 days," he said, adding it was "no small matter" for Iran to "compel them to seek negotiations and request a ceasefire."

The House rejected a war powers resolution on Thursday to constrain President Trump in Lebanon after Democratic leaders came out against it. 

The resolution, introduced by Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, directs the president to remove U.S. armed forces "from Lebanon" within seven days of the measure's adoption. It failed in a 92 to 324 vote, with two voting present. 

"Currently, there are no U.S. servicemembers involved in combat operations or hostilities in Lebanon," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Democratic Whip Katherine Clark and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar said in a statement before the vote. 

Democratic leaders said another war powers resolution introduced Wednesday by Tlaib with updated language was "the best legislative vehicle to keep U.S. troops out of Lebanon" and they would work with her to "build consensus" on it. They noted the new version had the support of Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee who has led the push in the lower chamber to rein in Mr. Trump's ability to wage war without congressional authorization. 

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