The US-Iran peace agreement faces its most immediate test over Lebanon, where Iranian and Israeli positions have hardened into a direct contradiction that threatens to unravel the deal before its formal implementation has even begun.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi declared on Tuesday, that as of Monday morning "the war has officially ended on all fronts," and that the first phase of the agreement between Iran and the opposing parties had been finalised.
He confirmed that a new round of negotiations between Iran and the United States would begin this Friday in Switzerland.
Speaking to a gathering of foreign chargés d'affaires and ambassadors in Tehran, Araghchi drew a stark red line on Lebanon.
"Without the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the territories they occupied during this war, the war has not fully come to an end," Iranian media quoted him as saying.
He further stated that "the termination of the war encompasses the termination of the occupation," placing Israeli troop withdrawal as a non-negotiable condition for the deal to hold. Araghchi also claimed the framework places Iran and Hezbollah on one side, and the United States and Israel on the other — a framing that effectively makes Israel a party bound by the agreement's terms.
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Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flatly rejected that position. Israel would remain in Lebanon "as long as necessary," he said on Monday, according to Associate Press.
The contradiction cuts to the heart of the deal's ambiguity. The agreement between Washington and Tehran has not been made public, and officials have at times offered contradictory interpretations of its contents.
Moreover, a US official, speaking anonymously to AP, said the deal does not call for an Israeli withdrawal, directly contradicting Tehran's reading of the text.
Araghchi noted that the first phase of the agreement was finalised after three months of negotiations and went into effect on Monday morning with official implementation set to begin on Friday.
Hezbollah has reported ongoing clashes in southern Lebanon, while Israel continues to insist on maintaining its troop presence in disputed areas — a situation that risks triggering exactly the escalation the deal was designed to prevent.
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