Iran’s prospective peace deal with the US is conditional upon a full Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, the Islamic Republic’s foreign minister has said.
Washington and Tehran are due to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to end the conflict between them, which has been ongoing since February, later this week.
But details of the proposed agreement are yet to be officially released, with the MoU only leading to a 60-day negotiation window.
Key issues on the table are understood to include Iran’s nuclear development and ballistic missile programmes, as well as the parallel war between its Lebanese proxy, Hezbollah, and the IDF.
Israel began an offensive operation against the terror group in response to its rocket attacks on northern Israeli towns, which it said were retaliation for Israel’s bombing of Iran.
The IDF has subsequently occupied a “buffer zone” in southern Lebanon, which it has said it will not relinquish, even in the event of a ceasefire, until Hezbollah has been defeated and its positions taken over by the Lebanese Army.
However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi told reporters on Tuesday: “Without the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the territories they occupied during this war, the war has not fully come to an end.”
This was then affirmed by Hezbollah, whose media team said it had been assured by the Iranian regime that the withdrawal of Israeli troops would be among their demands at the negotiations.
It comes after US President Trump voiced stern criticism of Israel’s campaign, calling on Prime Minister Netanyahu to act “more responsibly in Lebanon”.
During a speech at the G7 Summit, he said: “Israel has been fighting Hezbollah for too long and too many people are being killed.
"You don’t need to knock down an apartment house when you are looking for somebody because there are a lot of people in those apartment houses, and they are not all Hezbollah, that I can tell you.”
He even suggested that Syria should take the lead in confronting Hezbollah, praising Syria's new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa.
"He is very good with Hezbollah. He does not like them,” Trump continued. “I suggested to Israel: let Syria take care of Hezbollah because, to be honest, I think they do a better job of doing it.
“I consider [Lebanon] the minor war. Iran's a big one, but we have that little pinprick out there that constantly rears its head, and that's Hezbollah.”
Meanwhile, Reuters has reported, citing “a source with direct knowledge of the deal”, that the proposed agreement could include a $300 billion “private fund designed to trigger investment into Iran”.
"The new fund is a private investment vehicle, not a reconstruction or reparations program and will not include any government money or grants,” the report added.
Other reports in US media have suggested that $30 billion could similarly be set aside from sanctions relief or the selective unfreezing of assets to help fund a civilian nuclear programme for Iran, in return for a commitment not to enrich further uranium or develop nuclear weapons.
Trump, though, has denied the Reuters report, writing on Truth Social: “Iran has agreed to never have a Nuclear Weapon! Also, the story that the US is paying Iran 300 million Dollars is Fake News, put out by the Dumocrats [sic].”
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