{"id":163238,"date":"2026-06-16T17:32:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T17:32:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/163238\/"},"modified":"2026-06-16T17:32:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T17:32:14","slug":"lebanon-the-stumbling-block-that-could-derail-peace-negotiations-between-the-united-states-and-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/163238\/","title":{"rendered":"Lebanon: the stumbling block that could derail peace negotiations between the United States and Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"

\tTrump calls on Netanyahu to act \u201cresponsibly\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\tSyria, responsible in Lebanon<\/a><\/p>\n

\tIsrael\u2019s security zone in Lebanon<\/a><\/p>\n

\tPart of the agreement or not<\/a><\/p>\n

The good news at the start of the week regarding a possible agreement to end the war in the Middle East has been overshadowed by the situation in southern Lebanon, which could prove to be the key factor preventing a final agreement between the United States and Iran.<\/p>\n

Whilst awaiting details of the draft agreement to be discussed by the US and Iranian delegations in Switzerland from this coming Friday, developments over the last few hours in southern Lebanon threaten to ruin the prospects of the agreement coming to fruition.<\/p>\n

\"El
\nLe pr\u00e9sident des \u00c9tats-Unis, Donald Trump, prend la parole lors d’une rencontre bilat\u00e9rale avec le pr\u00e9sident des \u00c9mirats arabes unis (EAU), Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, en marge du sommet du G7 qui s’est tenu \u00e0 \u00c9vian-les-Bains, en France, le 16 juin 2026. REUTERS\/EVELYN HOCKSTEIN<\/p>\n

Trump calls on Netanyahu to act \u201cresponsibly\u201d<\/p>\n

Faced with this possibility, US President Donald Trump has sought to distance himself from Israel and prevent the Israeli army\u2019s actions in Lebanon from prompting Iran to withdraw from the forthcoming negotiations in Switzerland.<\/p>\n

Indeed, Iran\u2019s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, has been quick to warn that any Israeli attack on Lebanon, or the continued presence of the Israeli army on Lebanese territory, would be regarded as a breach of the provisional agreement.<\/p>\n

To prevent this potential \u201cwalkout\u201d, Trump has called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be \u201cmore responsible\u201d in his actions regarding Lebanon, whilst also making it clear that he is far from pleased with Israel\u2019s conduct in that country: \u201cI am not satisfied with the way Israel has acted in Lebanon and with regard to Hezbollah. They should have been able to finish the job, but this is simply dragging on endlessly, and when that happens, it casts a negative light on the major agreement, which is the agreement with Iran\u201d.<\/p>\n

For Trump, the agreement with Iran is key, and he is not prepared to let the recent Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon \u2013 which took place after the ceasefire had already been announced \u2013 derail the potential end to the war.<\/p>\n

\"Foto
\nGroup photo taken during the G7 summit in \u00c9vian-les-Bains, France, on 16 June 2026 \u2013 REUTERS\/ ISABEL INFANTES<\/p>\n

Syria, responsible in Lebanon<\/p>\n

As well as criticising Israel\u2019s actions, Trump has also been quick to downplay the war in Lebanon, which he considers \u201cminor\u201d and which does not hinder the potential deal with Iran.<\/p>\n

The US president has even gone a step further, stating whilst in the French town of Evian to attend the G7 summit that \u201cthe Israeli government should let Syria deal with Hezbollah, if they are unable to do so without killing anyone\u201d.<\/p>\n

It should be remembered that Syria is currently led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former member of an Islamist group with links to al-Qaeda who spearheaded the rebellion against the regime of Bashar al-Assad, a long-standing ally of Iran.<\/p>\n

\"Un
\nA man sits amongst the rubble in Jibchit, in the Nabatieh district (Lebanon), on 16 June 2026, following the agreement reached between the United States and Iran – PHOTO\/ REUTERS<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s security zone in Lebanon<\/p>\n

For his part, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated on 15 June that the Israel Defence Forces will remain in the security zone they have established in southern Lebanon \u201cfor as long as necessary\u201d.<\/p>\n

According to Netanyahu, the Israeli Army will remain in the area to protect residents in northern Israel and maintain \u201cfreedom of action\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"El
\nIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – PHOTO\/ NATHAN HOWARD<\/p>\n

So far, its recent air strikes in southern Lebanon have resulted in the deaths of several people who, according to Israel, were terrorists \u201cthreatening its soldiers\u201d.<\/p>\n

Regarding Trump\u2019s warnings about the threat his actions pose to a potential peace deal with Iran, Netanyahu pointed out that he and Trump have known each other for many years: \u201cHe is the President of the United States, I am the Prime Minister of Israel; we often see things in the same way, and there are also instances where we do not see things quite in the same way. I am responsible for Israel\u2019s security interests.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"El
\nEl presidente liban\u00e9s, Joseph Aoun – REUTERS\/ MOHAMED AZAKIR<\/p>\n

Part of the agreement or not<\/p>\n

The key question is whether security in southern Lebanon is an issue at the heart of the agreement to be negotiated from this coming Friday in Switzerland.<\/p>\n

The Iranian government maintains the position that the cessation of the Israeli offensive in southern Lebanon is one of the conditions for signing the agreement.<\/p>\n

In contrast, the United States denies that this is one of the conditions included. In fact, the Trump administration has leaked to the press that Israel\u2019s withdrawal is not one of the conditions of the agreement, and that, if Iran is unable to control Hezbollah and Israel comes under attack, it will have the right to defend itself.<\/p>\n

The Lebanese government is already preparing for the negotiations with Israel due to take place next week in Washington, which will be the first to be held following the peace agreement between the United States and Iran.<\/p>\n

\"El
\nLebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam – PHOTO\/ LUDOVIC MARIN \/ via REUTERS<\/p>\n

Lebanon\u2019s President, Joseph Aoun, and Prime Minister, Nawaf Salam, have reaffirmed the country\u2019s position in the negotiations with the United States regarding a \u201cpermanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the occupied territories, the deployment of the Lebanese army along the international border, the return of Lebanese prisoners and the start of reconstruction efforts\u201d.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, Aoun and Salam view the rapprochement between the United States and Iran as a \u201cpositive factor in reducing tensions in the region\u201d, as well as \u201ca step towards peaceful solutions and an end to the state of war\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Trump calls on Netanyahu to act \u201cresponsibly\u201d Syria, responsible in Lebanon Israel\u2019s security zone in Lebanon Part of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":163239,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[32],"tags":[38,9683,34,37,4027,93,4024,4026],"class_list":["post-163238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lebanon","tag-donald-trump","tag-estados-unidos","tag-iran","tag-israel","tag-l","tag-lebanon","tag-libano","tag-politica"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116760985613118352","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163238\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}