Lebanese channel Al-Mayadeen, an Iranian mouthpiece to the Arab world, reported Sunday evening that the Iranian delegation refuses to return to the negotiation hall in Switzerland until President Trump apologizes for his remarks and Israel withdraws from southern Lebanon. The report, attributed to a single source, says Tehran is not just demanding a halt to Israeli strikes but also an Israeli pullout from southern Lebanon.
The bargaining position Iran has staked out for months in its Switzerland talks with the United States appears to have hardened further. Sunday evening, the Hezbollah-aligned Lebanese channel Al-Mayadeen — widely considered an Iranian propaganda outlet — reported that the Iranian delegation will not return to the negotiating hall until two conditions are met: a personal apology from President Trump for unspecified remarks, and a full Israeli military withdrawal from southern Lebanon. According to the same unsourced report, Tehran's demand now explicitly includes an Israeli pullout from southern Lebanon, not merely a cessation of Israeli strikes on Lebanese territory.
This latest posture escalates a pattern The Zioneer has tracked since mid-June. As first reported June 15, Iranian sources claimed they had been misled into believing Israel would withdraw from southern Lebanon overnight upon an initial agreement. Subsequent reports — an Iranian state television statement on June 19, and a Friday broadcast by the same outlet — repeatedly rejected proposals that did not include an immediate Israeli withdrawal. A SAME-THREAD background item from Sunday at 19:40 (just over an hour before this report) cited an Iranian negotiator framing an end to the Lebanon war as the most important issue in the talks.
The report is single-source, coming from Al-Mayadeen — an outlet affiliated with Iran and Hezbollah — and has not been corroborated by other outlets as of press time. No official confirmation from the U.S. or Israeli sides has been issued.
5 developments
- StrongIran says negotiations will stop if Israel does not withdraw from Lebanon
- DevelopingIsraeli overnight strikes in southern Lebanon delay US-Iran talks, according to Israeli media
- DevelopingIran says ceasefire insufficient, won't begin final-deal talks until Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon
- StrongHezbollah senior tells Reuters: Iran says US talks cannot continue without full ceasefire
Source and signal
- Internal intake