The United States and Iran have signed a Memorandum of Understanding that aims to end the war the US and Israel launched on Iran on Feb. 28. The 14-point agreement, signed by Donald Trump at a June 17 gathering hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron in the Palace of Versailles—where the treaty to end World War I was signed in 1919—opens up the Strait of Hormuz for a 60-day ceasefire window, during which the two sides have vowed to negotiate a long-term resolution to the Iranian nuclear standoff. The US will also terminate all sanctions against Iran, provide $300 billion for post-war reconstruction, and unlock all frozen Iranian funds and assets.
The nearly four months of war killed at least 7,300 people in Iran and Lebanon.
Israel, the other belligerent, has lashed out at Washington over the deal, while continuing to attack Lebanon. The Israeli cabinet’s harsh words towards Washington led to a strong rebuke from US Vice President JD Vance. In an initial sign of the still-rocky road ahead, Vance’s trip to Switzerland on June 19 for talks on implementing the deal was abruptly cancelled.
Despite—or possibly because of—the signing of the MoU, which is supposed to include an end to fighting in Lebanon, the fighting there has flared again. The Israeli military reportedly killed 18 people in south Lebanon overnight on June 18-19. The rash of air-strikes followed Hezbollah’s killing of four Israeli soldiers in a southern Lebanese village, prompting furious statements from politicians such as Israeli’s extreme-right interior security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who said “all of Lebanon must burn.”
Meanwhile, Amnesty International released a report finding that Israel has dramatically expanded its mass “evacuation” orders as well as “don’t come back” orders, which it says “have been used as a deliberate tool to forcibly displace civilians” and prevent many of them from returning home. This, the rights watchdog says, amounts to “unlawful transfer,” which is a violation of the Geneva Conventions and a war crime.
From The New Humanitarian, June 19. Lightly edited; internal links added.
Image: Pixabay
US strikes Iran after attack on cargo ship
The US military has conducted strikes on Iranian targets after President Donald Trump accused Iran of a “foolish violation” of the truce. (BBC News)
On June 25, the US and the UK accused Iran of striking a Singapore-flagged commercial vessel with a drone as it was transiting a UN-backed route along the Omani coast. That attack led the International Maritime Organization, a UN agency, to temporarily pause a mission to evacuate more than 11,000 sailors who have been stranded in the Strait. Iran maintains that all vessels must use routes established by them and approved by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The Islamic Republic has proposed a toll for all vessels that would provide $40 billion in annual revenue, which it says should also benefit its Gulf neighbors, who came under weeks of attack from Iran during the war.
In a bid to allay naysayers who say the deal was too soft, Trump, who nearly torpedoed negotiations by threatening Iran with more bombing if it didn’t reopen the Strait, has said the $300 million in Iranian assets his administration will unfreeze will be used to purchase American agricultural goods.
Meanwhile, Israel continues to attack Lebanon. On June 25, as talks between Tel Aviv and Beirut were underway in Washington, Israel killed three more Lebanese in its second violation of the ceasefire in as many days. (TNH)
Lebanon-Israel-US Tripartite Agreement
After their fifth round of talks in Washington, Lebanese and Israeli negotiators—along with US mediators—signed a tripartite agreement in a signing ceremony at the State Department on June 26. The first point of the 14-point agreement sates: “Israel and Lebanon affirm each other’s right to exist in peace and their mutual desire to live securely as two sovereign neighboring states.” It goes on to call for the disarming of Hezbollah and Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon. (This Is Beirut)
700,000 displaced in Lebanon
The Norwegian Refugee Council has warned that—despite multiple ceasefires—around 700,000 people are unable to go back to their homes in Lebanon. Truces have reduced fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, but destroyed homes, a lack of services, access restrictions, unexploded ordnance, and the fact that Israel is still occupying part of south Lebanon are among the factors preventing wide-scale returns. (TNH)