Results of the U.S.-Iran Talks: How Will They Affect Lebanon!

Iran’s chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, preempted U.S. President Donald Trump’s response with escalatory remarks, indicating that he had told Pakistani Army Chief Asim Munir during talks in Tehran that the United States is not an honest party in the negotiations and that Iran will not relinquish its “rights.” He added that the Iranian armed forces had rebuilt their capabilities during the ceasefire, and that if the United States resumes the war, the consequences would be “more devastating.”

As Lebanon awaits the direction the U.S.-Iran negotiating track will take, it stands on the threshold of a pivotal meeting at the Pentagon next Friday as part of the rounds of Lebanese-Israeli talks sponsored by Washington.

Although the official Lebanese side has succeeded in separating Lebanon’s file from Iran’s, a political source following the matter told Nidaa Al Watan that the talks between Washington and Tehran, whatever their outcome, could weigh heavily on Lebanon, particularly on the negotiation file with Israel. Reaching a long-term agreement may include a decision obliging Iran to abandon support for its proxies in the region, including Hezbollah, which would then find itself compelled to facilitate the negotiating process and even cooperate on the issue of handing over its weapons to the state.

But if matters move toward the option of renewed war, the party may escalate the pace of its military operations and once again drag Lebanon into the furnace of a new confrontation, thereby continuing to obstruct the negotiations from the outset.