Lebanese President Joseph Aoun accused Iran Friday of using Lebanon as a “bargaining chip” in negotiations with the United States, and called on both Hezbollah and Israel to embrace diplomacy in a bid to end the fighting between them.

His comments in an interview with CNN came after Israel and Lebanon agreed on Wednesday to renew a truce in the conflict. Hezbollah has rejected the ceasefire deal, but on Friday, Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, an ally of the Iran-backed terror group, said he agreed to its withdrawal from southern Lebanon as long as the IDF also pulls out of the area.

Israel and the Lebanese government both support efforts to disarm Hezbollah and remove it from southern Lebanon. But Iran has rebuffed those calls and has sought to tie a ceasefire in Lebanon to its own peace talks with the US.

Aoun has repeatedly sought to distance Lebanon from regional conflicts and has said decisions concerning the country’s sovereignty and security must be made by the Lebanese state alone. Speaking to CNN, he slammed the Islamic Republic’s interference in Lebanon, noting that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps opposed the truce deal.

“It’s not your country, it’s our country,” he said, referring to Iran. “It’s our obligation. It’s not your job to interfere in our country… Our people [are] being killed, our people, our house is being destroyed.”

He added, “They are using Lebanon as a bargaining chip in their negotiation with the United States. It’s unacceptable.”

In Wednesday’s ceasefire agreement, following Israeli-Lebanese talks in Washington DC, the countries pledged to create a number of “pilot” security zones inside Lebanon from which Hezbollah terrorists would be banned.

A joint statement said the truce “is contingent on a complete cessation of Hezbollah fire and the evacuation of all Hezbollah operatives” from areas south of the Litani River, and said the deal would “enable progress towards a comprehensive peace and security agreement.”

But Hezbollah’s chief, Naim Qassem,........

© The Times of Israel