Aragchi says failure by Israel to withdraw from Lebanon will be violation of peace deal

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghch said Tuesday, June 16, that withdrawing Israeli forces from Lebanon is key to declaring an official end to the war in West Asia.

“Any military attack by Israel on Lebanon and the continued occupation of Lebanese territories from now on, in our opinion, is a violation of the MoU,” Araghchi said in a video statement.

“The end of the war will not be complete without the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the territories they occupied in Lebanon,” he added.
Tehran has maintained that Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are part of the understanding reached with Washington, while Israel has indicated that its forces will remain deployed in parts of southern Lebanon, exposing one of the key unresolved issues in the post-war settlement.

Millions have been displaced since Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israeli military began clashing in Lebanon on March 2, just days after the US and Israel launched coordinated attacks on Iran, triggering the three-month-old war. Subsequent ceasefires did little to contain the attacks in Lebanon.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has distanced himself from the recently announced peace deal, which Trump says has been signed electronically. Announcement of the peace deal, which both parties said would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, has significantly eased crude oil prices.

Araghchi, however, said that Tehran views the US and Israel as a single entity.

Netanyahu, who has an election to win this October to continue holding office as Israel’s Prime Minister, has voiced his opposition to the deal.

“This agreement was made by the United States, by the President of the United States, and he believes that he can achieve both supervision and the dismantling of the nuclear programme,” he said, adding that Israel has its own interests. “That is his decision. I repeat: that is his decision. He is leading it.”