Hezbollah said on Tuesday that Iran has assured it the next round of talks with the United States will include a demand for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon. According to the group’s media office, Tehran will press that demand in follow-up negotiations between Tehran and Washington after a memorandum of understanding is signed, and it will not be a precondition for those talks.
Hezbollah said plainly, “There will be no nuclear deal between Iran and the United States unless the Israelis withdraw.” The statement came as the Israel Defense Forces began a wave of strikes on Hezbollah infrastructure in Tyre and other areas in southern Lebanon.
The backdrop included remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump at the G-7 summit earlier on Tuesday, after a meeting with the Emir of Qatar. Trump said Israel’s attack on Beirut “did not please me,” and added that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must now show “much greater responsibility” toward Lebanon, because “without me there will be no Israel.”
Trump also said that if Israel cannot complete the mission against Hezbollah without killing others, “then Syria should do it,” and described the war in Lebanon as secondary. He said the nuclear agreement with Iran could still stand.