WASHINGTON, D.C. — Vice President JD Vance clarified Wednesday that the newly brokered ceasefire between the United States and Iran contains a strictly geographic definition of peace that excludes any territory currently illuminated by Israeli munitions.

Responding to reports that Israel launched its deadliest series of air strikes in Lebanon just hours after the truce was announced—killing at least 254 people—Vance explained that the Iranian leadership’s belief that a ceasefire involves a cessation of firing was a “bad faith” interpretation of the English language.

“I think this comes from a legitimate misunderstanding,” Vance told reporters while departing Hungary. “The Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon, and it just didn’t. While the text mediated by Pakistan explicitly mentioned Lebanon, we in the United States never once said that the words on the paper were intended to be read in that specific order.”

Vance further noted that Israel had agreed to show “significant restraint,” a diplomatic term of art which officials later clarified refers to the decision not to use every single bomb in the inventory at the exact same moment.

State Department sources confirmed that the ceasefire remains “100 percent intact,” provided that observers focus exclusively on the areas where no one is currently dying. The 1,100 injuries reported in Beirut on Wednesday are being categorized by the administration as “extracurricular kinetic events” that do not violate the spirit of the non-aggression pact, as the spirit of the pact is currently located in a separate room from the Lebanese border.

“It’s ultimately Iran’s choice if they want to let a perfectly good negotiation fall apart over Lebanon, which has nothing to do with them,” Vance said, echoing the administration’s long-standing policy that geography is a subjective concept during an election year.

At press time, officials were working on a revised dictionary for international mediators where the word 'cease' will be redefined as 'to continue with a very focused expression' and 'fire' will be replaced with 'unsolicited urban redevelopment.'