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Deal includes Lebanon
The United States and Iran reached an agreement to end fighting and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif saying it includes "the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon."
Trump announced on Truth Social that "The Deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete," and he authorized "the immediate removal of the United States Naval blockade."
Iran’s deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi said the text was finalized and would be signed on Friday, while the Iranian Secretariat of the Supreme National Security Council said warfare would cease "immediately and permanently from tonight" and that the naval blockade would end.
The framework’s Lebanon scope immediately collided with Israel’s position, as Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the IDF would remain in the security zones in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza "without a time limit."
Reactions and disputes
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told CBC News that "America must live up to its responsibility to ensure the Zionist entity [Israel] will stop its war against Lebanon," linking the ceasefire’s success to U.S. enforcement.
In response, Katz said his country will not be bound by the deal and that "The IDF will remain in the security zones in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza without a time limit," while CBC reported that U.S. Vice-President JD Vance expected "the Israelis will be participants in this peace process."
The dispute also surfaced in how leaders framed the agreement’s Lebanon inclusion, with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun saying he followed the memorandum "with interest" and that it includes a commitment to "stop military operations and escalation in the region, including Lebanon."
At the same time, the CBS report said Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Trump Israel won’t withdraw from Lebanon and doesn’t consider itself obligated to go along with the Lebanon-related parts of the U.S. deal with Iran, as Ynet reported citing Israeli sources.
What’s at stake next
The agreement is set to be signed on Friday in Switzerland, while the framework is described as creating a 60-day window for negotiations on issues including Iran’s nuclear program and U.S. sanctions, with the Lebanon question tied to whether Israel accepts the deal’s scope.
The Guardian reported that Iranian deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi said the ceasefire covers Lebanon in a "A permanent and immediate end to the war has been declared on all fronts, including Lebanon" formulation, while mediator Sharif also said the termination includes "including in Lebanon."
But the Guardian also said Trump made no mention of Lebanon in his initial Truth Social announcements, and it warned that further military action could "torpedo any agreement between the US and Iran."
NBC News added that it was unclear how Israel would act moving forward, given the agreement was finalized despite an Israeli strike on Lebanon on Sunday, and it quoted Katz saying Israel’s forces will remain in seized territory "indefinitely" and that Israel would retaliate if Iran attacks in response to events in Lebanon.
