Khamenei ties US-Iran peace deal to Israel ending attacks on Lebanon

The Iranian supreme leader’s intervention comes amid reports of a halt to attacks and renewed diplomacy between the US and Iran.Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has said that peace between Tehran and the United States is contingent on Israel stopping its attacks against Lebanon.Khamenei made the statement on X on Sunday.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3US and Iran hit pause on strikes for second daylist 2 of 3From paradise to ‘pilot zone’ disaster: Returning to destroyed Lebanon homelist 3 of 3Israel obstructing takeover of pilot zones in Lebanon’s south: Militaryend of list“Iran has designated the preservation of Lebanon’s territorial integrity, and the absolute, unconditional termination of the Zionist regime’s aggression as the primary condition for any agreement to ending the imposed war against the aggressive US,” he wrote.Khamenei also voiced his support for the Lebanese group Hezbollah, its former leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and the people of southern Lebanon – the focal point of Israel’s attacks – in a series of posts.“The Iran" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="8614" data-entity-type="organization">Islamic Republic of Iran considers the defense of these oppressed yet powerful mujahideen [of Hezbollah] to be its strategic mandate,” Khamenei said.Khamenei’s intervention comes amid reports of a halt to attacks and renewed diplomacy between Tehran and Washington.Iran has consistently made an end to Israeli strikes on Lebanon a precondition for ending the war, a demand enshrined in the first clause of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the two countries in June. That agreement has since collapsed amid a dispute over the Strait of Hormuz.Lebanon was drawn into the conflict in March after Hezbollah launched strikes on northern Israel, citing both the killing of then-Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on the war’s first day, February 28, and Israel’s near-daily bombardment of Lebanese territory – attacks it says violated a ceasefire that had ended an earlier round of hostilities in 2024.