Iranian official says MOU will be void if IDF does not fully withdraw, while source close to PM vows not to back down; army posts fresh map of buffer zone, says troops will remain.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman warned Thursday that a continued IDF presence in southern Lebanon would mean the “annulment” of the memorandum of understanding it signed with the United States, as Israel doubled down on its plans to keep troops in the area amid its ongoing conflict with the Hezbollah terror group. Speaking to the Hezbollah-aligned Lebanese news outlet Al Akhbar, Esmaeil Baghaei said the continuation of Israel’s offensive would be a violation of the memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran that was signed this week.
“It was not acceptable for us to abandon our brothers in Lebanon,” the spokesman said. “We cannot talk about ending the war while parts of Lebanese territory remain under the occupation of the Zionist entity. As long as the occupation continues, it can be said that the war is still in place and has not ended in essence.” The signed memorandum affirms a commitment to Lebanon’s territorial integrity in the face of Israel’s ground operation against the terror group. The clause has proven thorny as Israel refuses to withdraw from wide swaths of southern Lebanon, saying it will not cede the ground to Hezbollah, which has long held sway in the country’s south and from which it has been firing missiles and drones at Israel.
An official close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Reuters that Israel had been “conducting stubborn negotiations” with the US on the issue of maintaining its deployment in Lebanon.srael has no intention of backing down on its positions, the official said, amid continued hostilities between IDF troops and the terror group. US and Iranian negotiators were set to meet Friday in the Swiss resort town of Burgenstock for initial talks on Iran’s nuclear program and other outstanding disputes. The negotiations outlined in the memorandum are meant to result in a final deal within a 60-day time frame. But Baghaei appeared to rule out any progress in talks so long as Israel pressed on with its offensive against Hezbollah,
“The second phase of our negotiations will begin to reach a final agreement, and this final agreement will be achieved only if the memorandum of understanding is fully implemented, which, in our view, means the complete cessation of attacks and the end of the occupation,” Baghaei said. “The Zionist entity does not want to provide any opportunity for any diplomatic path to calm the situation in our region,” the official charged, asserting that the US was responsible for “obliging” Israel to respect the memorandum. (Ed note: One can see where this is going. Hezbollah will strike at the IDF and of course, the IDF will retailate thus making Iran and President Trump very mad. Iran will then call off the treaty negotiations and Israel will be the villain, the bad guy, and everything will be the fault of Israel.) (Read more)
