Iran’s military headquarters warned Israel on Tuesday (16) to end its campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon, according to a statement published by the semi-official Fars news agency.
If Israel does not “put an end to its aggression in southern Lebanon, it must expect a severe response from the powerful armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” said the statement, which Fars attributed to Iran’s main joint military command, Central Headquarters Khatam al-Anbiya.
Iran and Pakistan have insisted that the agreement between Iran and the US requires Israel to cease hostilities, and hours before the agreement was announced, US President Donald Trump publicly called on Israel to halt its attacks in Lebanon.
However, a senior US official said the deal does not require Israel to withdraw from the country, and Israel refuses to end its military campaign against the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group.
Earlier, Iran’s chief negotiator, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, said Israel must withdraw from the “occupied areas” in Lebanon.
The comment was made during a telephone conversation with the Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament, Nabih Berri, as Tehran and Washington planned to sign a peace agreement this Friday (19) to end the war between the two countries.
“The population of southern Lebanon must return to their homes,” Qalibaf added in a post on his Telegram channel.
Also on Tuesday (16), United States President Donald Trump made clear his frustration with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, telling reporters that he needed to be “more responsible towards Lebanon”.
Trump has clashed with Netanyahu several times in recent months, believing the Israeli leader and his government were hindering a U.S.-Iran deal by attacking Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“Without me, there would be no Israel, because no other president would be willing to do what I did,” Trump said in response to a question about whether he was frustrated with Netanyahu.
Netanyahu has avoided public confrontations with Trump. Speaking about the US-Iran deal on Monday (15), he said: “There are cases where President Trump and I do not see eye-to-eye. […] I am responsible for Israel’s security interests, and this needs to be done wisely.”
An Israeli source reported that the prime minister is trying to organize a meeting after the American returns from the G7 Summit in Europe.
