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Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, wearing the uniform of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), chairs a meeting in Tehran, Iran, on February 1. / Photo courtesy of AFP, Yonhap News Agency

With the United States and Iran scheduled to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to end their conflict on June 19 in Bürgenstock, Switzerland, Tehran has once again demanded the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon as a precondition for any peace agreement with Washington, declaring that there will be no true end to the war without an Israeli pullout.

According to Iran's semi-official Tasnim News Agency on June 16, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri held a telephone consultation to discuss the political and operational developments surrounding the upcoming U.S.-Iran MOU.

"The war cannot be considered fully over unless the Israeli military withdraws from all occupied Lebanese territories," Qalibaf emphasized, adding that "the guarantors of the U.S.-Iran peace MOU must ensure Israel's complete withdrawal from occupied Lebanese lands."

Both speakers underscored that Israel’s continued occupation and destruction of Lebanese villages constitute clear violations of international law and must cease immediately, calling for an urgent halt to the destruction and full respect for Lebanon's sovereignty.

While the U.S.-Iran MOU is designed to lift the blockade on the Strait of Hormuz and bring an end to the hostilities, the unresolved conflict along the Israel-Lebanon front remains a critical variable for the actual implementation of the agreement.

Consequently, market observers and political analysts anticipate that the issue of an Israeli military withdrawal will likely dominate the agenda during the follow-up negotiations scheduled over the next 60 days.

                                                                                                             Park Jin-suk