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Israel says it is expanding ‘buffer zone’ in Lebanon – as it happened

The Guardian · 🇬🇧 public United Kingdom · · 2245 words · By Eva Corlett; Taz Ali; Lucy Campbell; Tom Ambrose; Adam Fulton; Luca Ittimani; Chris Stein; Stefanie Glinski; Saeed Shah; William Christou; Lorenzo Tondo; Eduardo Porter; Hannah Ellis-Petersen
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What to know about Israel says it is expanding ‘buffer zone’ in Lebanon – as it happened

Iran has dismissed a US plan to pause the war in the Middle East and launched more attacks on Israel and Gulf Arab countries.

Propaganda risk 0%
Claims checked 16
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Right coverage
Left20%
Center80%
Right0%

5 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Iran has dismissed a US plan to pause the war in the Middle East and launched more attacks on Israel and Gulf Arab countries.

Why it matters

Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said on state TV that his government had not engaged in talks to end the war – “and we do not plan on any negotiations”.

Common ground

Speaking of negotiations now is an admission of defeat.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/mar/25/middle-east-crisis-live-iran-…

analyticsAnalysis

0%
Propaganda Score
confidence: 0%
Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 16 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

help Insufficient Evidence 7
schedule Pending 6
verified Verified By Reference 3
verified
Claim 1: “Iran has dismissed a US plan to pause the war in the Middle East and launched more attacks on Israel and Gulf Arab countries.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia evidence describes the 2026 Iran war's outbreak but does not mention US ceasefire proposals, Iran's dismissal of such proposals, or attacks on Israel/Gulf Arab countries. No direct corroboration for the specific claim.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — On 28 February 2026, the United States and Israel started a war with surprise airstrikes on sites and cities across Iran, assassinating Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and several other Iranian officials …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Iran_war
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Arab–Israeli alliance is a security coalition comprising Israel and various Arab countries. Originally formed in the interest of the Gulf Cooperation Council, it is primarily focused on deterring …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab–Israeli_alliance
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Beginning on 28 February 2026, the governments of the United States under Donald Trump and Israel under Benjamin Netanyahu launched coordinated joint attacks on various sites in Iran, which started t…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reactions_to_the_2026_Iran_war
verified
Claim 2: “That came after a report from Iranian state TV’s English-language broadcaster quoting an anonymous official as saying Iran rejected the US’s ceasefire proposal and had its own demands for an end to the fighting, the Associated Press reports.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia evidence about Iranian protests and the 2026 war does not mention anonymous officials rejecting US proposals or outlining demands. No direct support for the claim.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2025–2026 Iranian protests are a series of nationwide demonstrations against the government of Iran that began on 28 December 2025 amid a deepening economic crisis. The unrest followed a sharp dep…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025–2026_Iranian_protests
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — On 28 February 2026, the United States and Israel started a war with surprise airstrikes on sites and cities across Iran, assassinating Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and several other Iranian officials …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Iran_war
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to th…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran
schedule
Claim 3: “Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem has said negotiations with Israel under fire would amount to 'surrender' as it launched fresh attacks on the country.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
schedule
Claim 4: “Hezbollah launched missiles early on Thursday at military sites in central Israel, where air raid sirens sounded.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
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Claim 5: “The Lebanese health ministry said at least eight people were killed in Israeli strikes.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
verified
Claim 6: “Two officials from Pakistan – which transmitted the US plan to Iran – described the 15-point proposal broadly.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia evidence about US-Pakistan relations and drone strikes does not reference a 15-point ceasefire proposal or Pakistan officials describing its content. No direct support for the claim.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Between 2004 and 2018, the United States government attacked thousands of targets in northwest Pakistan using unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) operated by the United States Air Force under the operat…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_drone_strikes_in_Paki…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Pakistan and the United States established relations on 15 August 1947, a day after the independence of Pakistan, when the United States became one of the first nations to recognise the country. The r…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan–United_States_relatio…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — A series of sporadic military engagements and confrontations between Pakistan and the United States, with the occasional support of Afghanistan, took place along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border from l…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan–United_States_skirmis…
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Claim 7: “The chief executive of Abu Dhabi state oil company Adnoc has described any restriction of passage through the strait of Hormuz by Iran as 'economic terrorism'.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in Wikipedia or web search results to support the claim about Adnoc CEO labeling Iran's actions as economic terrorism.
help
Claim 8: “South Korean president Lee Jae Myung on Thursday asked the public to conserve electric power.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in Wikipedia or web search results to support the claim about South Korea's energy conservation statements.
schedule
Claim 9: “A ship carrying more than 700,000 barrels of Russian crude oil has arrived in the Philippines.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
help
Claim 10: “China’s foreign minister has said that a 'glimmer of hope' for peace has emerged due to moves to stop the war in the Middle East, despite Tehran vowing to keep fighting.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in Wikipedia or web search results to support the claim about China's foreign minister discussing peace hopes.
help
Claim 11: “Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said on state TV that his government had not engaged in talks to end the war – 'and we do not plan on any negotiations'.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in Wikipedia or web search results to support the claim about Abbas Araghchi's statements. The claim remains unverified.
help
Claim 12: “The White House press secretary insisted the US and Iran were in talks, even as Iranian officials deny it. 'Talks continue,' Karoline Leavitt said on Wednesday.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in Wikipedia or web search results to support the claim about White House press secretaryġs statements on US-Iran talks.
schedule
Claim 13: “Bahrain says its civil defences have extinguished a fire in the north due to 'Iranian aggression' and there were no injuries.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
schedule
Claim 14: “The Israeli military says it has completed a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime in several areas across Iran.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
help
Claim 15: “The Israeli military says it has carried out a wave of strikes across Iran, including extensively in the central city of Isfahan.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in Wikipedia or web search results to support the claim about Israeli strikes on Isfahan.
help
Claim 16: “Wang Yi urged dialogue in separate calls with his Turkish and Egyptian counterparts, suggesting that both Tehran and Washington had shown signals they were willing to return to the negotiating table.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence found in Wikipedia or web search results to support the claim about China's foreign minister urging dialogue with Turkey/Egypt.
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.