President Donald Trump may not attend Friday's signing ceremony in Geneva for the deal aimed at ending the U.S.-Iran war, leaving a cloud of uncertainty over the agreement even as some residents begin returning to devastated areas in southern Lebanon.
"Well, it depends," Trump told reporters Monday from Évian-les-Bains, France, during the annual Group of 7 summit. "JD's coming in for it, he was originally going to do it," he said of Vice President JD Vance. "I'll probably be gone by then."
“Trump may skip Iran deal signing as Israel vows indefinite presence in Lebanon.”
The Trump administration has described the agreement as extending the ongoing ceasefire for the next two months, opening the Strait of Hormuz and lifting the U.S. blockade on Iranian ports, while offering Iran phased relief from sanctions based on unspecified benchmarks. But the president was equally vague about when officials would release the full text of the memorandum of understanding. "I think pretty soon I would say," he told reporters, adding that the deal was a "very powerful document." Administration officials suggested the terms could be released by midway through this week, though Trump himself said the text would be shared with the public "sometime after Friday," around the time of the signing.
The uncertainty extends well beyond the U.S. and Iran. The U.S. kicked off the war in partnership with Israel, but the two allies do not always see eye to eye, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday. Pakistani and Iranian negotiators have described the peace deal as pausing conflict on all fronts of the regional war, including between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon. Yet Israel has vowed to continue operating indefinitely in Lebanon and Iran if need be.
"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, to protect, from there, the border and Israeli communities against jihadist elements," Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Monday. Netanyahu added that his country would take action to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons "with an agreement" or "without an agreement." Behind the scenes, Israeli leaders consider the agreement "terrible for Israel," a senior official told Reuters. "And there is no one in the Israeli leadership who views it otherwise, from the prime minister to the chief of staff," the official said.
Despite Israeli defiance, some residents are returning to Nabatieh in southern Lebanon following news of the deal, according to Channel 4 News. The city has been devastated since fighting between Hezbollah and Israel restarted earlier this year. But with Israel saying its forces will be staying in Lebanon indefinitely, the fragile peace remains on shaky ground.