Abbas Araghchi Says Israel Must Withdraw From Lebanon To End War With U.S.

Iran’s top diplomat Abbas Araghchi said Tuesday that the tentative deal to end the war with the United States would require Israel to withdraw from Lebanon, a condition Israel has already rejected and that could sink the agreement.

“Vance says Trump could release MOU text 'as early as tomorrow' Vice President JD Vance said that President Donald Trump could release the text of the memorandum of understanding as soon as Wednesday, but tried to downplay its release overall”

ABC News

Araghchi said, “Without the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the territories they occupied during this war, the war has not fully come to an end,” as the Associated Press reported the deal has not been made public and officials have offered contradictory interpretations.

ABC News

The Associated Press reported that Israel joined the U.S. in launching strikes on Iran on Feb. 28 and has fought the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that Israel would remain in Lebanon “as long as necessary.”

The CBS News live updates framed the same dispute as a requirement that “Israeli forces” leave Lebanon, while also noting that Israeli officials said Monday that “Trump’s agreement does not bind us.”

As the U.S.-Iran framework moved toward a signing ceremony expected Friday in Switzerland, Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock told CBS News’ Major Garrett that the result “looks a lot like where we were before any of this started.”

Warnock added, “I hope the war is over. but the question is, why were we in the war in the first place?” while CBS News reported that the Strait of Hormuz was to be reopened under the deal.

Al Jazeera

On Capitol Hill, Sen. Chuck Schumer demanded the president release details, telling reporters, “Now it's been two days since Trump claimed he had reached a peace deal, quote unquote, with Iran, but he still hasn't released any details at all of this so-called deal,” according to CBS News.

CBS News also reported that President Trump said Tuesday he will release what is in the deal Friday, saying he would “probably have a press conference and read it to you word by word, so that the press covers it accurately.”

Renewed fighting risked disrupting the U.S.-Iran truce as Israel’s military said Sunday evening it was preparing for an incoming salvo of Iranian missiles, and hours later plans for the U.S. and Iran to sign a more permanent ceasefire deal in Geneva were being announced, NBC News reported.

NBC News quoted Netanyahu saying Monday that Israel’s “struggle is not over” while pledging to remain in “security zones” in Lebanon, and it reported that Defense Minister Israel Katz said the IDF would remain in “the security zones in Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza.”

Iran threatened retaliation tied to Lebanon, with the DW report saying Iran’s military central command Khatam al-Anbiya said that if Israel does not stop carrying out strikes in southern Lebanon, “it should await a harsh response” from the Iranian military.

Meanwhile, Al Jazeera reported that Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon’s Nabatieh governorate killed at least four people despite a ceasefire and a recent understanding between the United States and Iran to end the war on all fronts, as residents returned to check properties and Mohammed Nasser said, “This is a decades-old conflict with Israel … an enemy that can’t be trusted … and we can never feel safe.”