At least four people have been killed in Israeli drone strikes on southern Lebanon, as Washington prepares to sign a deal with Iran at the end of the week to end the war. The strikes come amid Tehran’s insistence that Israel must pull its troops out of southern Lebanon before any agreement is signed. Hezbollah has said Iran promised it won’t sign a final nuclear deal with the US unless Israel withdraws all its forces from the area.
The deal, brokered by Donald Trump, has drawn fierce comparisons to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action under Barack Obama – the deal Trump tore up in 2018, calling it a “terrible deal” that was a road to a nuclear weapon. But the results of Trump’s “clumsy war on Iran,” as described by analysts, have smashed geopolitical stability, hiked up fuel prices worldwide, and cost thousands of lives.
“Four killed in Israeli drone strikes on Lebanon as Iran demands troop withdrawal before Trump's deal”
The Trump agreement – whose details are yet to be formally released – is believed to involve a massive cave-in on sanctions relief and billions in reparations to Tehran. Much of that money, critics say, is likely to flow directly to the warchests of Iran’s proxies: Hezbollah, Hamas and Yemeni Houthis. Obama’s JCPOA, by contrast, was supported by the UK, France and Germany, and relied on intrusive oversight of Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for limited sanctions relief. Israel opposed the original deal because it depended on Iranian cooperation, but Israeli leaders – and most Israelis – “absolutely hate” the Trump deal, which cuts Israel out of negotiations and would, if adhered to, prevent it from attacking Hezbollah. That is something Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is unlikely to accept.
Trump also promised help to Iranian rebels who rose up against the regime, telling them “help is on the way.” But he abandoned them, leaving thousands facing death squads and torture, their uprising encouraged but unsupported. The new agreement, if signed, would further embolden Iran, which has already demonstrated its ability to hold global energy trade to ransom by closing the Strait of Hormuz. The question now is whether Israel will accept a deal that demands its withdrawal from southern Lebanon, or whether the strikes – and the threat of more – will derail the signing.