(JNS) Pressure from Tehran on Hezbollah to reach a ceasefire and “cut its losses” is one of the factors that led the Lebanese terrorist group’s deputy leader Naim Qassem to on Tuesday, Oct. 8 signal its readiness for a ceasefire, Beirut sources told Channel 12 on Tuesday.

Hezbollah has received several blows from Israeli forces in recent weeks, devastating its leadership ranks.

It lost its long-time leader Hassan Nasrallah to an Israeli Air Force bombing run on his underground compound in Beirut’s Dahiya suburb on Sept. 27.

“We support the political efforts led by [Hezbollah-aligned Parliament Speaker Nabih] Berri under the banner of achieving a ceasefire,” Qassem said in a statement.

Berri heads another Shi’ite group in Lebanon, the Amal Movement, and its parliamentary wing.

Observers noted that Qassem left out any connection to Gaza, a first for Hezbollah, which until now had linked any cessation of hostilities with the end of the Gaza war.

“Hezbollah officials are no longer demanding a truce in Gaza as a condition for reaching a ceasefire in Lebanon, rowing back from an oft-repeated promise to keep fighting until Israel halts its offensive against Hezbollah’s Iran-backed ally Hamas,” Reuters noted on Wednesday.

Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters his group remained confident that Hezbollah’s stance had not changed.

However, a Lebanese government official told the news wire that Hezbollah had altered its position due to pressures, including the mass displacement of its main Shi’ite constituencies fleeing the fighting.