The Hezbollah-affiliated daily Al-Akhbar reports that Iran is conditioning the resumption of negotiations with the United States on the implementation of Article 13 of the memorandum of understanding, which requires a halt to Israeli strikes in Lebanon. The claim, attributed to an unnamed Hezbollah source, has not been independently confirmed by other outlets.
A Wednesday report by the Hezbollah-affiliated daily Al-Akhbar, circulated via a Hezbollah mouthpiece channel, now specifies a concrete diplomatic mechanism for Iran's longstanding condition. The report, citing an unnamed source, says Tehran demands implementation of Article 13 of the existing memorandum of understanding, which it describes as requiring a cessation of Israeli strikes in Lebanon before broader diplomatic progress can occur. This article-level detail was absent from earlier Iranian statements on the subject.
The thread of Iranian and aligned messaging has steadily sharpened over recent weeks. On June 19, a senior Hezbollah official told Reuters — as reported by The Zioneer — that Iran had communicated that talks with Washington could not continue without a comprehensive ceasefire across all fronts, including Lebanon. The following day, analyst Yossi Yehoshua assessed that Iran was pushing negotiations to the brink while directing Hezbollah to pressure IDF forces in southern Lebanon. On June 22, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghei stated that without an end to hostilities in Lebanon, there would be no final agreement; on June 30, Iranian sources reiterated that position and denied any imminent US meeting. The Al-Akhbar report now names Article 13 as the specific clause Iran wants enforced.
As The Zioneer has reported, Iranian officials and aligned sources have for weeks framed Lebanon's status as a formal diplomatic condition, not merely a tacit one. The context includes former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's unverified June 6 claim that Iran conditions any deal on Israel halting operations in Lebanon, and a June 17 report that Lebanon's Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab detailed a multi-phased plan for Hezbollah disarmament tied to the US-Iran memorandum.
The claim in the Al-Akhbar report remains unverified by independent Western or Israeli media. The two substantive messages in this batch — the description of indirect talks via mediators and the Article 13 report itself — both originate from a single Hezbollah-aligned source, and no corroboration from other outlets or on-record Iranian officials has emerged.
4 developments
- DevelopingPompeo warns: Iran conditions deal on Israel stopping Lebanon operation
- DevelopingReport: Iran-US talks include terms for Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, release of Hezbollah prisoners
- DevelopingIsrael objects to Trump demand to halt Lebanon fighting as part of Iran deal
- StrongHezbollah senior tells Reuters: Iran says US talks cannot continue without full ceasefire
Source and signal
- Internal intake