Iran's Foreign Minister stated Tuesday evening that a deal to end the war with the United States requires Israel to withdraw from southern Lebanon. He added that Israel has already rejected this condition, jeopardizing the agreement, according to a single-source report.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated Tuesday evening (June 16) that any deal to end the war with the United States requires an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon, and claimed Israel has already rejected the condition — jeopardizing the agreement. The statement, reported by a single source, is the latest in a sequence of escalating Iranian demands this week linking a US-Iran deal to the situation in Lebanon.
Earlier Tuesday at 15:53 Jerusalem, The Zioneer reported Hezbollah issued a statement asserting Iran would not sign any agreement without an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon. That followed Araghchi's own comments earlier in the day at 11:28 Jerusalem, when he said ending the war in Lebanon is inseparable from ending the war in Iran and demanded a full Israeli withdrawal. The thread has moved rapidly: on Monday June 15 at 19:31 Jerusalem, an Iranian ultimatum threatened to torpedo the agreement unless the IDF withdrew from all Lebanese territory by a deadline; at 16:13 Jerusalem, Iranian sources said senior negotiators were furious, claiming Israel was supposed to have withdrawn from southern Lebanon overnight.
As The Zioneer reported on Saturday June 13 at 04:12 Jerusalem, a message attributed to an Iranian source stated that any agreement ending the war must apply to Lebanon as well. On Thursday June 11 at 12:27 Jerusalem, a member of the Iranian negotiating team said Iran will not accept or agree to the continued presence of IDF forces in southern Lebanon. Monday June 15 saw additional statements from the Iranian Foreign Ministry (15:03 Jerusalem) insisting on guarantees for Lebanon's security and territorial integrity, and from spokesman Baghaie (19:42 Jerusalem) warning that the US must enforce Lebanon ceasefire obligations from the memorandum of understanding — which he said mentions Lebanon multiple times.
What remains open: the entire thread currently rests on single-source Iranian and Hezbollah reports. No independent confirmation or on-record Israeli response has been published. Israel's position on the reported withdrawal condition has not been independently verified.
2 developments
- StrongAraghchi says Lebanon war end inseparable from Iran's, demands full Israeli withdrawal
- StrongIran conditions war-ending deal on Lebanon's inclusion
- StrongIsrael insists no withdrawal from Lebanon under understandings with Iran
- DevelopingReport: US trying to persuade Iran with offer tying withdrawal to de-escalation
Source and signal
- Internal intake