Hans News Service Dubai

Iran'stop diplomat said Tuesday that the deal ending the war with the United States would also require Israel to withdraw from Lebanon. But with Israel insisting it will keep forces in Lebanon, questions are growing about the still-unpublished agreement and whether disagreement over its terms could prolong the conflict.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Israel's continued occupation of southern Lebanon would violate the memorandum of understanding reached between the United States and Iran. "The end of the war in Lebanon is an inseparable part of the complete end of the war," Araghchi said in statements made to foreign diplomats in Tehran that were aired on Iranian state TV.

"Without the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the territories they occupied during this war, the war has not fully come to an end." Araghchi said further Israeli attacks on Lebanon "will be considered by us a violation of the memorandum of understanding." The United States has not said whether Lebanon was part of the final agreement. But Araghchi's description clashes with statements made by Israeli officials about the deal to end the war that started with joint US-Israeli airstrikes on Feb. 28. Israel is not a party to the agreement. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described it as President Donald Trump's decision, noting Israel had its own priorities and would remain in a buffer zone in Lebanon "as long as necessary."