“Without Me, There Would Be No Israel,” Trump Says as Israel Remains in Lebanon
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President Donald Trump is facing a choice: Ending the war with Iran, which is tanking his popularity and the economy, or continuing his deference to Israel.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi made it clear on Tuesday that he cannot have both.
Following assertions from Israeli leaders that it would not end its occupation of Lebanon, Araghchi reiterated that the memorandum of understanding signed virtually by the US and Iran required in no uncertain terms that “war will be ending everywhere, on all fronts, including Lebanon.”
“Due to the relations between war in Lebanon and the aggression of Israel on south Lebanon and the war on Iran, these two fronts — Iran and Lebanon — are quite connected to each other,” he said.
“End of the war will be the end of the occupation,” he continued. “And without retreating and withdrawing from the Lebanese occupied territories, then there will not be an end to the war.”
Trump Calls Iran Deal “Complete” as Questions Linger Over Its Terms
“So any military attack from the Zionist entity against Lebanon will never be accepted,” he said. “The continuation of the Israeli occupation of the Lebanese territories is a violation of the memorandum of understanding.”
It was a shot across the bow from Tehran following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s assertion the day before that Israeli forces would remain in Lebanon “for as long as necessary” regardless of any US-Iran agreement.
“We established deep security zones around the state of Israel,” he said, referring to the roughly 230 square mile occupation area where Israel has forcibly expelled more than 1 million Lebanese civilians and........
