Deal Still Not Signed, and Netanyahu Could Yet Blow It Up

An article published Thursday says the U.S.-Iran agreement announced by Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and then confirmed by President Donald Trump has not actually been signed yet, despite expectations that it would be finalized on Friday. The piece says there was talk of a remote, digital signing after the Israeli strike in Beirut’s Dahieh neighborhood disrupted the plan, and notes that no such signing has been reported so far.

According to the report, the core issue is Lebanon. Sharif emphasized that Lebanon is included in the deal, a condition Iran insisted on and one the article says Trump appears to have accepted. Israeli officials told the media that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made clear in a phone call to his former friend in Washington that Israel does not consider itself bound by the Lebanon clause and will keep defending itself as before.

The article says Netanyahu’s strike on Dahieh, against Trump’s position, nearly caused the agreement to collapse and prompted an angry reaction from the U.S. president. Israeli sources said it is still unclear what is permitted and forbidden for Israel under the arrangement, but they also said Israel will not give up its security against Hezbollah, even if that brings a direct clash with Washington.

The deal, as described in the report, gives Iran what it wanted and abandons all major U.S. demands: immediate release of tens of billions of dollars in frozen assets, lifting of oil sanctions, a $300 billion compensation fund for Iran, permission to enrich uranium on Iranian soil, and no mention of ballistic missiles or proxy forces. In the coming days, Israel will have to decide whether to keep striking in Lebanon and how to respond to Hezbollah attacks across the border. The article warns that if Iran concludes the U.S. cannot restrain Israel, the agreement could collapse, with potentially dramatic consequences for U.S.-Israel relations.