Iran demands Israel withdraw from Lebanon as condition for interim deal

Iran’s foreign minister says US talks will resume Friday, insists deal must cover Israeli actions in Lebanon.

By World Israel News Staff

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tuesday that a new round of talks with the United States will begin Friday in Switzerland, while insisting that any agreement to end the war must also end Israeli military operations and deployments in Lebanon.

Araghchi’s comments to reporters highlighted a dispute over the scope of a memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran, with Iran saying the deal binds both Israel and Hezbollah, while US and Israeli officials have said Israel retains the right to respond to attacks from Lebanon.

“The important point I want to stress here is that, in our view, the two sides of this memorandum of understanding are, on one side, the United States and Israel, and on the other, Iran and Hezbollah,” Araghchi said.

He said Iran considered the Lebanon front an inseparable part of the broader war.

“Ending the war in Lebanon is an inseparable part of ending the war as a whole, and ending the war also includes ending the occupation. Without the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the land they occupied in this war, the war has not fully ended,” Araghchi said.

Araghchi said any Israeli attack on Lebanon or continued Israeli occupation of Lebanese territory would be viewed by Tehran “as a violation” of the MOU.

The Iranian foreign minister said the talks with Washington would follow a first-stage agreement focused on ending the war, reopening the Strait of Hormuz, addressing the maritime blockade and dealing with reconstruction issues.

He said the next phase of negotiations would last 60 days and focus on Iran’s nuclear program and sanctions relief.

The full text of the MOU has not been released, and the competing descriptions of its Lebanon provisions have become one of the main points of friction ahead of the expected formal signing.

Israel is not a party to the US-Iran agreement, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described the deal as a US decision while saying Israel has its own security priorities.

US officials have presented a more limited interpretation.

A senior US official told Israeli media that the Iran deal is not conditioned on Israel withdrawing from Lebanon, though the official said the truce does cover Lebanon. Another US official said Israel would retain the right to respond if Hezbollah attacks Israeli positions or communities.

“The deal is a cease-fire, and it will not be a one-way cease-fire, meaning that if Iran is not able to control Hezbollah and if they attack, you know, Israeli positions or Israeli towns, Israel will have the right to defend themselves and respond,” the official said, according to i24NEWS.

Netanyahu has also said Israel is not bound by the US-Iran arrangement. Speaking Monday, he emphasized that Israel was not a signatory and distanced himself from President Donald Trump’s decision to move ahead with the agreement.

“This agreement was made by the United States, by the president of the United States. And he believes that he can truly combine both the opening of the [Strait of Hormuz] and the cancellation of the nuclear program… And I repeat and say that this is his decision, and he is leading it,” Netanyahu said.

He added that Israel would continue to focus on its own security concerns.

“Of course, I expressed my view in various conversations. On the other hand, I said that we have our own interests – first of all, regarding the nuclear threat. I am committed that there will not be such a threat facing us,” Netanyahu said.