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Lebanon in the deal
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said a draft agreement with the United States would be signed “remotely” and could happen “in the coming days,” while he also said “A final agreement has not yet been reached.”
“Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has said a deal to permanently end the US-Israeli war with Iran has “never been closer””
DW reported Araghchi saying an “end to the war on all fronts, including in Lebanon, will be announced under [an] interim deal,” and it quoted him warning that the Strait of Hormuz would not return to the pre-war status quo.
US and Iran negotiations were also described as approaching a sensitive stage, with L’Orient Today saying a senior U.S. administration official said a text now exists and is acceptable to both sides.
In the same reporting stream, L’Orient Today said a Western source reported the deal could be signed as early as Sunday, and it added that Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif wrote that “Pakistan is now working closely with both parties to finalize the next steps.”
Israel disputes inclusion
While US and Iranian officials signaled that an agreement was close, DW reported Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz saying Israel “will not withdraw from the security zones in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza.”
Al Jazeera reported Araghchi telling Press TV that an agreement had not been signed and that it would consist of two stages, with fighting halted “including Israel’s offensive in Lebanon,” under the first stage.
L’Orient Today said Hezbollah MP Hussein Hajj Hassan told Al Jazeera that Lebanon is included in a reported agreement and that Iranian officials had indicated Israel would withdraw from Lebanese territory under the terms of the deal.
In the same L’Orient Today coverage, Hezbollah also said it carried out two suicide drone attacks at dawn targeting newly installed Israeli artillery positions in the Marjayoun district, with one drone striking the hill of Tallat al-Hamames and the second targeting the Sarda Farm area.
What’s at stake next
Al Jazeera said a senior US official told reporters the memorandum of understanding would involve “significant” sanctions relief and the unfreezing of Iranian assets in exchange for Iran agreeing to dismantle its nuclear programme and hand over its nuclear material.
RFE/RL reported a senior US administration official estimating a “80 to 85%” likelihood that an agreement with Iran would be signed in the “coming days,” while stressing “We’re not quite at the finish line yet, but we are very close.”
Il Sole 24 ORE reported Reuters citing four sources that the UAE agreed to release billions of dollars to Iran, with two regional sources putting the total at $10 billion and two other sources putting it at $20 billion, and it said the move was agreed in exchange for an end to Iranian attacks against the UAE.
In Lebanon-linked developments, L’Orient Today reported an Israeli airstrike on Shehabieh in the Sour district of southern Lebanon left one person dead and 11 others injured, as Israeli warplanes continued raids across southern Lebanon.
