No Tehran-Washington deal before Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, Araghchi says

BEIRUT— Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tuesday that no agreement between Tehran and Washington will be reached before the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon, insisting that negotiations with the United States will not resume "as long as the first component of the protocol agreement on Lebanon has not been implemented."

The remarks were made during a meeting in Tehran with Sheikh Ali al-Khatib, vice president of the Supreme Islamic Shiite Council, who led a Hezbollah-affiliated delegation to offer condolences during the official ceremony honoring Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an Israeli strike on Feb. 28.

According to Iran’s top diplomat, the protocol agreement contains five components, the first of which concerns Lebanon, "respect for its national sovereignty and territorial integrity."

"There will be no resumption of negotiations or agreement as long as this section has not been implemented and as long as the cease-fire and an end to the war have not been achieved," he insisted.

He also said that Iran has always refused to exclude Lebanon from discussions with Washington. "We have reiterated several times that any agreement must include Lebanon," he said, assuring that Tehran "will not abandon its friends in Lebanon," as well as the Lebanese people, "who have made immense sacrifices during this war," despite U.S. requests to separate the two issues.

The war between Hezbollah and Israel broke out on March 2 with the opening of a support front for Iran. Lebanon has since seen large areas of its southern region occupied by Israel, more than one million displaced, and over 4,000 killed. Several cease-fires have failed to hold. The one included at Iran’s request in the Islamabad talks with the United States in June reduced the intensity of fighting but did not end it, even though Hezbollah has barely responded to Israeli violations in recent weeks.

During the meeting, Sheikh Ali al-Khatib thanked Iran for its "honorable position toward Lebanon," notably "its insistence on making an end to the war against Lebanon the first component of the protocol agreement concluded with the Americans," arguing that this demonstrated Tehran’s respect for its commitments to the Lebanese people.

He also praised "Iran’s resilience" in the face of "American-Zionist aggression" before describing the consequences of the war in Lebanon, saying that several cities and towns in southern Lebanon had been "completely wiped off the map."