Hezbollah officials said Tuesday that Iran has given them assurances it will press for an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon in the next round of talks with the United States. Through its information office, Hezbollah said, as quoted by Reuters, that Tehran promised no nuclear agreement with Washington would be signed unless Israel retreats from Lebanon. The group said such a withdrawal would be the result of continued talks, not a precondition for them.
The comments came as U.S. President Donald Trump sharply criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a meeting with the emir of Qatar at the G7 summit in France. Trump said Israel has been fighting Hezbollah for too long and killing many people, arguing, “You do not need to knock down a building every time you want to kill one person,” and calling Netanyahu’s conduct “excessive.” He added that Israel should have ended the Hezbollah issue quickly, and said, “If Israel cannot do the job with Hezbollah, al-Sharaa in Syria will do the job.”
Trump also said the Iran deal was entering “the second stage,” which should be easier, and reiterated that Iran would not get nuclear weapons. He said, “If they get a nuclear weapon, all hell will break loose,” and claimed Israel would not exist today without him. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi responded that ending the war also requires ending the occupation, and said the war is not complete without an Israeli withdrawal from the territory taken in this conflict.
The dispute intensified after Israel’s airstrike in Beirut’s Dahiyeh district earlier this week. Trump said he called Netanyahu and asked, “What the hell are you doing?” and later wrote on Truth that the Beirut strike should not have happened, especially when the sides were close to a peace deal with Iran. Israeli officials were described as shocked and furious by the agreement, which is already slated for a formal signing ceremony in Geneva on Friday. An American official said the deal does not include an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon, and that Israel retains the right of self-defense against Hezbollah.
