Donald Trump touched down in Geneva on Monday hours after his newly minted peace deal with Iran came under immediate strain — with Israel vowing to keep its forces in Lebanon indefinitely and a key ally warning the agreement was already at risk of collapse.
The US president arrived for a crucial G7 summit hosted by Emmanuel Macron in Evian-les-Bains, as his administration scrambled to salvage a Memorandum of Understanding signed over the weekend between Washington and Tehran. Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif — the key mediator who first announced the deal — had declared it called for “the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon”.
“Trump lands for G7 as Israel vows to stay in Lebanon, straining new US-Iran peace deal.”
But within hours, Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, issued a blunt statement. “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and I are leading a clear policy that determines that the IDF will remain in the security zones in Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza, without any time limit,” he said, explicitly rebuffing the terms of the accord. Israeli strikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut — in response to Hezbollah rockets crossing into northern Israel — have twice in the past week come close to derailing the entire process, according to the BBC’s global affairs correspondent Sebastian Usher.
Trump himself weighed in, warning both sides: “Let’s not blow it,” after fears that an Israeli attack on Beirut could unravel the agreement. The deal includes an end to “military operations” in Lebanon, but Israel says its forces will remain there indefinitely. Iran only just pulled back from another missile attack on Israel in order to get the deal across the line, Usher reported. Two previous ceasefires in Lebanon have failed to take hold.
For now, the agreement also envisages lifting Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the US blockade of Iranian ports — though those measures may not be immediate. That would relieve pressure on Trump over global economic disruption and offer some relief to Iran’s collapsing economy. But the most essential element — guarantees that Iran will never develop a nuclear weapon — remains unclear and will be the subject of intense negotiation after the signing ceremony, still several days away in Switzerland. The Swiss foreign ministry confirmed it is in close contact with all parties to facilitate the signing, but declined to provide details on the proceedings.
Trump’s first meeting in Evian is with Macron, who plans to urge him to continue supporting Ukraine. But the immediate crisis was centred on the Middle East, where an accord hailed as “This Great Deal will bring Peace and Security to the whole Region” by the US president was already teetering.