Jerusalem, April 17: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that even after the ceasefire with Hezbollah takes effect, Israel will maintain a 10-km security zone in southern Lebanon.

Netanyahu’s videotaped statement followed US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a ceasefire, agreed to by Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, set to take effect at 5 p.m. US Eastern Time (2100 GMT).

The Israeli prime minister noted that he had rejected Hezbollah’s demand for an Israeli withdrawal to the international border, and that Israeli forces would remain in a security zone in Lebanon, Xinhua news agency reported.

He argued that this buffer zone would help prevent “invasions” and anti-tank fire into northern Israeli communities.

Netanyahu also said, “We have an opportunity to make a historic peace agreement with Lebanon,” adding that Trump intends to invite him and Aoun to advance such a deal.

He claimed that this opportunity exists because Israel has fundamentally changed the balance of power in Lebanon, noting that Israel has received calls from Lebanon over the past month for direct peace talks.

The prime minister noted that Israel has two main demands in these talks — the disarmament of Hezbollah and a lasting peace agreement.

Turning to Iran, Netanyahu claimed that Trump told him that he was “tremendously determined to continue both the naval blockade and to dismantle Iran’s nuclear capability, what is left of it.”

He described these as “two very important moves that could fundamentally change our security and political situation for years to come.”

Trump on Thursday announced a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon aimed at bringing a temporary cooling-off along another front linked to the Iran conflict.

He said that after speaking with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun, the two sides agreed to a 10-day ceasefire beginning at 5 p.m. Washington time.

The ceasefire is expected to pause hostilities that escalated when Israel opened a new front targeting Iran-affiliated Hezbollah.

Lebanon is not directly engaged in a formal war with Israel, but Hezbollah controls large parts of southern Lebanon and has carried out attacks on Israel, prompting retaliatory strikes.

Melbourne, April 17: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Friday that a major fire that broke out at one of Australia’s two oil refineries will have a minimal impact on fuel production.

Albanese on Friday returned early from an official trip to Brunei and Malaysia to inspect the damage at Viva Energy’s refinery southwest of Melbourne after equipment failure caused a major fire on Wednesday night. The fire was extinguished around midday on Thursday.

Speaking to reporters at the refinery, Albanese said that the timing of the fire was “regrettable” amid the oil supply crisis caused by the conflict in the Middle East, but that it would have a minimal impact on production.

“The advice that we’ve received today is that 80 per cent of diesel production is continuing, 80 per cent of aviation fuel is continuing,” said Albanese, who was in Brunei and Malaysia for talks on fuel security.

Petrol production at the facility, which provides 10 per cent of Australia’s national fuel supply, was at 60 per cent of capacity on Friday and there are hopes that it can “ramp up” in the coming days, Albanese said.

He said that the government would provide its regular weekly update on fuel stockpile levels on Saturday, Xinhua news agency reported.

Authorities said on Thursday that equipment failure caused a major fire at an Australian oil refinery that is expected to affect the national fuel supply.

The fire broke out at Viva Energy’s refinery in the city of Geelong, 65 km southwest of Melbourne, around 11 p.m. local time on Wednesday and was continuing to burn on Thursday morning.

The facility is one of only two operational refineries in Australia and produces about 10 per cent of the national fuel supply.

Michelle Cowling, deputy commissioner of the fire and rescue service in the state of Victoria, told Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) radio that equipment failure in the refinery caused the fire.

Tehran, April 16: Iran will not compromise on its nuclear enrichment rights, said the country’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baqaei, adding that its entitlement to nuclear energy is firmly grounded in international law and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), state media reported on Thursday.

Addressing a press conference in Tehran, Baqaei dismissed what he described as baseless speculation in Western media regarding Iran’s enrichment programme, stressing that the country’s legitimate rights, as recognised under international law, are non-negotiable, reports the country’s official news agency IRNA.

He underlined that the right to peaceful enrichment is neither a favour nor a concession granted by any external power that can be withdrawn under pressure or during times of conflict.

As long as Iran remains a signatory to the NPT, he said, it must be able to fully benefit from the treaty’s provisions.

Responding to reports about alleged enrichment-related discussions during recent Iran-US negotiations held in Pakistan, Baqaei clarified that any potential agreement must first establish a comprehensive framework. He noted that until the broader terms are settled, discussions on specifics — particularly on sensitive matters involving war and peace between Iran and the United States — would be premature.

In another part of his remarks, Baqaei rejected claims that Iran had reduced or halted its support for the Lebanese resistance. He stated that Iran has consistently backed what he termed the country’s legitimate resistance and that ending the war in Lebanon was a key component of the ceasefire understanding discussed during the Islamabad talks.

He alleged that the other side, referring to Israel, failed to honour that aspect of the ceasefire from the outset. However, Iran has remained committed to its position and continues to pursue the issue seriously in ongoing diplomatic engagements, he said.

Baqaei further explained that under any agreement, if one party violates its commitments, the other party is entitled to proportionately scale back its own obligations. He described as “completely false” any claims suggesting that Iran has neglected resistance fronts in Lebanon despite its stated commitments under the ceasefire understanding.

Commenting on a European proposal to establish a United Nations-led coalition to secure the Strait of Hormuz, Baqaei said Iran, as a littoral state, along with regional partners, is fully capable of ensuring the security of the vital waterway.

He added that Iran has historically acted as a guardian of security in the Strait of Hormuz and claimed that the only disruptions witnessed in the past 40 days have stemmed from what he described as an imposed war involving the United States and Israel.

Baqaei cautioned that any foreign intervention in regional affairs would further complicate the situation. He also expressed satisfaction that several European countries have not, in his view, fallen into what he termed a trap set by the US and Israel, reports IRNA.

He reiterated that Iran, in cooperation with regional nations, can maintain stability in the Strait of Hormuz, provided that US involvement and what he described as warmongering in the region come to an end.