Day after US, Iran agreed to tentative deal, Israeli strikes kill 4 in Lebanon
AP file photo The TOI correspondent from Washington Iran’s top diplomat said Tuesday that the tentative deal to end the war with the US would
AP file photo The TOI correspondent from Washington Iran’s top diplomat said Tuesday that the tentative deal to end the war with the US would require Israel to withdraw from Lebanon — a condition Israel has rejected, leading to the resumption of all-out war. While Israel is not party to the agreement, it is part of the war.Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said Israel’s continued occupation of southern Lebanon would violate the deal. “Without the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the territories they occupied during this war, the war has not fully come to an end,” Araghchi said. A US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss outlines of the agreement, has said the deal did not call for an Israeli withdrawal.On Tuesday, Israeli drone strikes in Leabanon killed at least four people, Lebanon’s News Agency (NNA) reported. Two people were killed in a double-tap strike, with a drone hitting a car in the village of Mayfadoun followed by a second strike after people had gathered at the scene. Another drone strike on the town of Shoukin killed two other people, the agency said. Throughout Tuesday, the Israeli military pounded southern Lebanon with drone strikes, a missile launch, and artillery strikes, according to NNA, while drones hovered over the capital Beirut.There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the reported strikes.In a statement, Israel’s military said it had intercepted rockets launched by Hezbollah at an area of southern Lebanon that was witnessing operations by Israeli soldiers.
The military also said it had struck a launcher that had fired some of the rockets.Meanwhile, US President Trump Tuesday sought to contain a growing political backlash over his emerging deal with Iran, pledging to hold a detailed press conference after Friday’s formal signing ceremony and read the memorandum of understanding “word for word” to counter accusations that he had conceded too much in exchange for a headline-grabbing diplomatic win on his birthday.The unusual promise came as critics across the ideological spectrum savaged him for a deal that the White House has as a landmark achievement ending months of conflict with Tehran, but which, in reality, represents only a dodgy opening phase of a far more complicated diplomatic process.The MoU, signed electronically this week and due to be formalised in Switzerland on Friday, is being described by US officials as the framework for a 60-day ceasefire and negotiation period. The most contentious issues — Iran’s nuclear programme, the scope and timing of sanctions relief, the fate of frozen Iranian assets, and regional security arrangements — remain unresolved and will be the subject of subsequent talks.Yet, even before the ink has dried, supporters and detractors alike have rushed to portray the MoU as either a masterstroke of statesmanship or a historic capitulation.
The BriefWire