US President, Vice President J. D. Vance and the speaker of Iran’s parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, a senior US official said.
The official confirmed that the agreement includes the immediate opening of the Straits of Hormuz and the lifting of the blockade of Iranian ports, noting that shipping in the area will “significantly increase”.
What about the Lebanese Front and Hezbollah?
The agreement between the US and Iran is expected to end the war in Lebanon, but it does not mention either an Israeli withdrawal or an end to Tehran’s support for Hezbollah, leaving many outstanding issues in Lebanon, analysts say.
Lebanese authorities, which have been holding separate bilateral negotiations with Israel under pressure from Washington, were kept on the sidelines during the deal announced overnight.
– What does the agreement provide?
The content of the deal announced overnight was not made public.
Iran and Pakistan, the main mediator in these negotiations, announced that it foresees an end to the war on all fronts, including in Lebanon, where pro-Iranian Hezbollah and Israel have been fighting on the front lines since March 2.
Lebanon was not informed of the terms of the agreement. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who has a mediator role between Hezbollah and the US, underlined that the agreement includes “a binding condition” that requires “an end to Israeli aggression against all of Lebanon”.
Iran’s foreign minister said today that the US must guarantee that Israel is committed to ending the war in its northern neighbor.
Hezbollah, which “thanked Iran” for including Lebanon in the deal, stopped overnight its attacks against Israel, which for its part did not carry out strikes in the south until noon.
– There is no withdrawal?
According to what was leaked from the agreement, there is no mention of an Israeli withdrawal. Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz said the country would maintain its troops in Lebanon, as in Syria and Gaza, “for an indefinite period of time.”
“This agreement does not appear to bind Israel, which soon after announced that it is not a party. Therefore, it is very unlikely that there will be an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon,” estimates Karim Bitar, who teaches at Sciences Po Paris.
The Israeli army launched a ground operation and pushed deep into Lebanon, even crossing the Litani River at some points, about 30 kilometers from the border, according to a Western military source.
The source, who asked not to be named, clarified that “tens of thousands of Israeli soldiers” are now in the south of the country where they continue to have some fixed positions.
“This is the biggest incursion since their withdrawal in 2000,” underlines the same source according to which Hezbollah maintains a presence in the occupied territories.
The pro-Iranian party had revealed that it had sent reinforcements since the beginning of the war to the areas south of Litani, from which it was supposed to withdraw after the end of the latest conflict with Israel in November 2024.
– What is the future for Hezbollah?
While the US has been pressuring Lebanese authorities for months to disarm Hezbollah, the deal makes no mention in advance of what will be done with Iran-linked groups.
“Iran does not appear to be committed to ending its support and funding to Hezbollah,” estimates Karim Bitar, while for military expert Riyad Kahwaji, “it is certain that Hezbollah will not accept to hand over its weapons.”
The analyst fears that there may be “increased instability in Lebanon, as Hezbollah in particular believes that through Iran, it has emerged victorious, and will therefore try to impose its terms” on the authorities.
– What about bilateral negotiations?
Lebanon and Israel have been holding negotiations since April under the auspices of Washington, which has tried to decouple the fronts in Lebanon and Iran. The negotiations were rejected by Hezbollah and failed to end the war that has already left more than 3,700 dead and more than a million displaced in Lebanon.
A new round of negotiations with two legs, one political and one military, is scheduled to begin on June 22 in Washington.
“We will intensify our efforts during the Washington negotiations to achieve a complete Israeli withdrawal,” Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said today.
However, analysts doubt the usefulness of this process, as official Lebanon was bypassed by announcing the comprehensive agreement.
For Bitar, Lebanon could “once again be the scapegoat that will simultaneously pay for American amateurism, Iranian cynicism, Israeli hubris and, to be honest, the absence of a clear strategy from its own political class.”
