Kumar Bahukhandi
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi speaking about the agreement reached with the United States and regional developments at a meeting with ambassadors and diplomatic representatives from foreign countries in Tehran. (AFP)
The deal, which is between the U.S. and Iran, has not been made public, and officials have sometimes offered contradictory interpretations of what is in it
DUBAI: Iran’s top diplomat said Tuesday that the tentative deal to end the war with the United States would require Israel to withdraw from Lebanon — a condition Israel has already rejected and that could sink the agreement, leading to the resumption of all-out war.
The deal, which is between the U.S. and Iran, has not been made public, and officials have sometimes offered contradictory interpretations of what is in it. While Israel is not party to the agreement, it is part of the war after joining the U.S. in launching strikes on Iran on Feb. 28. Israel also has fought the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon and seized large swaths of that country.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Israel’s continued occupation of southern Lebanon would violate the deal.
“Without the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the territories they occupied during this war, the war has not fully come to an end,” Araghchi said.
A U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss outlines of the agreement, has said the deal does not call for an Israeli withdrawal. And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that Israel would remain in Lebanon “as long as necessary.”
The negotiations to end the war have been plagued by such disagreements before, leading to a prolonged but uneasy ceasefire that has failed to develop into a permanent end to hostilities and has left the Strait of Hormuz , a crucial waterway for the world’s energy supplies, effectively shut.
Switzerland’s foreign ministry said the signing ceremony for the deal will take place Friday at the Bürgenstock resort near the city of Luzern.
Iran’s call for an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon complicates any deal Pakistan has said the deal called for an end to military operations, including in Lebanon, as Iran long insisted. But Araghchi’s call for an Israeli withdrawal adds a new wrinkle.
It puts Israel into a dilemma as it tries to degrade Hezbollah’s military capabilities without undermining an agreement championed by its most important ally, the United States. Israel invaded southern Lebanon after Hezbollah fired missiles across the border during the first week of the war. Since then, it has expanded its military footprint to levels unseen in decades and struck targets deep inside Beirut.
Though Hezbollah has been weakened, it retains the ability to strike Israel, leaving open questions about the effectiveness of Israel’s campaign.
As of Tuesday evening, Netanyahu had not seen the memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran, said a person familiar with the situation, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss closed-door details.
Another person, who also spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations between Israel and the U.S., said Israeli officials have not asked U.S. negotiators for the memorandum. Netanyahu’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The White House declined to comment on whether Netanyahu or Israeli officials have reviewed the agreement. The Israeli ambassador to the U.S., Yechiel Leiter, told NPR that while Israel does not know the details of the deal, the apparent inclusion of Lebanon is “unnecessary and unhelpful.”
The extent of Israel’s strikes has at times opened a public fracture between its leaders. U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters Tuesday that he was “not happy with the way Israel has handled themselves with Lebanon and with Hezbollah.” “It just goes on forever,” he said of Israel’s strategy.
Israeli strikes in Lebanon have killed nearly 4,000 people, including hundreds of civilians, and displaced more than 1 million. “Israel’s fighting Hezbollah too long, and too many people are being killed,”
Trump said. Lebanese government welcomes prospects for a ceasefire Israel and the Lebanese government have entered their own U.S.-mediated direct negotiations , of which Hezbollah was not part.
Those talks have yielded several announced ceasefires that were never implemented on the ground. Lebanese officials initially tried to keep Lebanon separate from the U.S.-Iran negotiations, not wanting to be seen as beholden to Iran, but they have since welcomed the announcement that the deal to end the U.S.-Iran war would include a ceasefire in Lebanon.
Araghchi’s latest comments appear to match the understanding of two regional officials with direct knowledge of the interim deal.
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door negotiations, said it would require Israel to leave nearly all the territory it occupies in Lebanon, minus a few hilltop points along the border seized earlier. The officials say Iran insisted the accord include Lebanon in the last days of the negotiations.
The U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon known as UNIFIL reported that Israel and Hezbollah are still exchanging fire but at a “significantly reduced level,” U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Tuesday. Many questions loom ahead of ceremonial signing Other major questions hang over the planned ceremonial signing.
The agreement is meant to provide a meaningful truce in a monthslong war that has killed thousands across the Middle East and raised the prices of fuel, food and other basic goods far beyond the region. The agreement provides for the “immediate” opening of the Strait of Hormuz and the lifting of the American naval blockade of Iranian ports, according to a senior U.S. official who spoke to reporters Monday on condition of anonymity to discuss outlines of the agreement.
At least two oil tankers left Iran on Tuesday and crossed the U.S. military blockade without being stopped, ship tracking websites show. They represented Iran’s first crude oil exports in two months, merchant shipping tracking website TankerTrackers.com said.
The site said it corroborated the departure of the Iranian-flagged tankers Diona and Hero II with satellite imagery and that they were carrying a combined total of 3.8 million barrels of Iranian crude oil. U.S. Central Command said it had no comment. Next, the U.S. and Iran will begin 60 days of negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program and the potential lifting of sanctions, Pakistani officials who helped broker the interim deal said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the unpublished text.
The pact also includes the possibility of releasing Iran’s frozen funds and a $300 billion fund to help rebuild Iran if Tehran meets certain benchmarks, senior U.S. officials told reporters Monday.
Trump later said the United States would not “invest” funds in Iran. U.S. officials have not yet explained how they see the agreement addressing Iran’s nuclear program, including who will be in charge of verifying that Iran is in compliance and who will destroy or remove highly enriched uranium believed to be buried under nuclear sites that were badly damaged by U.S. strikes last summer.
Iran has agreed to discuss ways to possibly “dilute or remove” the uranium, the regional officials said. However, it remains unclear whether Tehran would agree to that, particularly with hard-liners opposed. Trump said he’s open to sending the emerging agreement to the U.S. Congress for review. Republicans on Capitol Hill say they want Trump to provide more information about the agreement , with some expressing skepticism that the deal can deter Iran from pursuing a nuclear weapon.
( Source : AP )
