Israeli media is now reporting that Netanyahu has informed Trump that Israel is not bound by the Lebanon ceasefire clause set out in the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the US and Iran. Adding that the Israeli army will continue its deployment at sites spread across Lebanon and will respond to any attacks from Hezbollah.
As mentioned before, this is one key sticking point that could really lead to a breakdown in negotiations over the next 60 days.
The US has to keep Israel on a leash here. However, you can bet that Israel will want to keep up hostilities in Lebanon as the conflict in the past few months has given them good reason to engage.
I can imagine Iran looking past a few attacks and strikes ahead of the MOU signing later this week. And even as negotiations begin, I reckon Iran is likely to still afford some leeway on the matter.
But if negotiations appear to be going nowhere in the next 60 days, this is one of the easier offramps that Iran can use to back away from the discussion table. And if not, at least use this to further delay talks – which will be the main game plan
