Can US-Iran peace ‘deal’ survive Israeli bombing of Lebanon?
Israel is blowing up buildings in Lebanon – and chances of a lasting deal to secure peace in the Middle East. The fragile United States-Iran
Israel is blowing up buildings in Lebanon – and chances of a lasting deal to secure peace in the Middle East. The fragile United States-Iran peace agreement is hanging by a thread as Israel intensifies its military campaign in southern Lebanon, raising fears it could unravel before formal negotiations are completed. The agreement, which the US and Iran signed earlier this week, triggers a 60-day negotiation period for the two to reach a formal peace deal, and talks were supposed to begin in Switzerland on Friday. However, US Vice President JD Vance cancelled his flight to Switzerland on Thursday night at the last minute after Israeli bombing in southern Lebanon, which killed at least 18 people, after which Iran said its negotiators were not prepared to begin talks until the agreement, which stipulates that Lebanon is included in the ceasefire, showed signs of being implemented. Analysts say Israel’s continued bombardment of southern Lebanon is poised to derail any hope of ending the war in the Middle East. Israel currently occupies one-fifth of Lebanon, which it has subjected to near-daily attacks since early March. More than 3,000 people have been killed, and more than one million have been displaced from their homes. While the US-Iran agreement stipulates that both sides will commit to ensuring the “territorial integrity and sovereignty of Lebanon”, Israeli officials have stated this week that their forces will not withdraw from the territory. Ministers in Israel have said “all of Lebanon must burn.” So, can the deal survive in the face of Israeli bombing? And can President Donald Trump rein in Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu? Why have Iranian and US negotiators cancelled trips to Switzerland? Neither side has given an official reason for cancelling trips to begin the awaited talks, which were to be held at the Burgenstock Resort in Stansstad, near Lucerne in central Switzerland. A statement from the White House noted that “the plans for the upcoming technical talks have not been finalised,” adding that the Vance-led delegation is “prepared to depart at the first available opportunity”. However, it added, “the logistics of these negotiations have never been simple or predictable. As of now, the Vice President is not departing tonight.” Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that there was no confirmation that Iranian negotiators would travel for talks, because they first wanted to see signs that the interim agreement, which includes Lebanon in the US-Iran ceasefire, is being implemented.
The Swiss Foreign Ministry followed up with a statement, saying talks to implement the preliminary deal struck between Tehran and Washington to end the war have been “postponed”. No new date has yet been set for talks to commence, despite the 60-day clock for a deal to be reached beginning on Thursday this week. What’s happening in Lebanon? Just after midnight local time on Thursday night (21:00 GMT), residents in southern Lebanon woke up to the start of an intense Israeli bombardment of their villages and cities, hours before US-Iran talks were scheduled to begin in Switzerland. The attacks have so far killed at least 18 people and wounded dozens, with the largest number of bodies pulled out from a bombed-out residential building in Harouf village. Israel has been on one of its deadliest sprees of attacks on southern Lebanon since its ally, the US, came into an agreement with Iran to end the hostilities on all fronts – including Lebanon. Israel began near-daily attacks on Lebanon in early March, when the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel in response to the US-Israeli attacks on Tehran that killed the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and other top Iranian officials. Israeli attacks have continued despite a US-brokered “ceasefire” in April. Now, despite the US-Iran memorandum of understanding (MoU), they are continuing. In a statement on Friday, Israel’s military said attacks on southern Lebanon overnight, which have continued through the morning, were a response to Hezbollah’s “repeated violations of the ceasefire”. Hezbollah acknowledged attacks on Israeli military positions inside Lebanon. Soon after, the Israeli military announced that four of its soldiers had been killed during combat in Lebanon. Netanyahu’s political ally, Itamar Ben-Gvir, the far-right Israeli national security minister, said “all of Lebanon must burn. “With all due respect to the Americans, Israel must make it clear to the entire world that the blood of our sons and the security of our citizens are not forfeit,” Ben-Gvir wrote in a post on X, adding that, in the region, you needed to “go berserk. To obliterate. To crush the terror”. What does the peace agreement say about Lebanon? The first clause of the MoU signed by the US and Iran on Wednesday this week addresses the question of Lebanon. The US and Iran have agreed to the “immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon”, it states.
The BriefWire