Israel Says It Is Pushing Back on U.S. Pressure Over Its Presence in Southern Lebanon

An Israeli senior official told Reuters that Jerusalem is refusing to withdraw from its positions in southern Lebanon and is holding intensive talks with Washington over the issue. The comments come amid growing U.S. pressure and Iranian demands for an Israeli pullback from southern Lebanon.

At the same time, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said Tehran is setting conditions for implementing the memorandum of understanding it signed with Washington. In an interview with the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, which is aligned with Hezbollah, he said any move toward a final agreement depends on a full Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory and a complete halt to military activity in the country.

Baghaei said Iran interprets the memorandum as including a U.S. commitment to preserve Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, which Tehran sees as requiring a complete withdrawal of IDF forces from all Lebanese territory. He added that the Lebanon issue was part of the negotiations from the start and that Iran opposed any attempt to separate the different fronts in the region.

"When we talk about ending the war, it has to be on all fronts and in full," Baghaei said. He said Iran made clear throughout the talks that it would not accept a partial end to the fighting or abandoning its allies in Lebanon.