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

play Live Sign upShow navigation menuNavigation menuNewsShow more news sectionsAfricaAsiaUS & CanadaLatin AmericaEuropeAsia PacificMiddle EastExplainedSportOpinionVideoMoreShow more sectionsFeaturesEconomyHuman RightsClimate CrisisInvestigationsInteractivesIn PicturesScience & TechnologyPodcastsTravelSponsored Contentplay Live Click here to searchsearchSign upNavigation menucaret-leftUS-Israel war on IranStrait of HormuzWhat is Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain?Why have strikes resumed?Bodies of Evidencecaret-rightNews|US-Israel war on IranKhamenei ties US-Iran peace deal to Israel ending attacks on LebanonThe Iranian supreme leader’s intervention comes amid reports of a halt to attacks and renewed diplomacy between the US and Iran. xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogleAdd Al Jazeera on GoogleinfoIran's Mojtaba Khamenei voiced his support for Hezbollah in a series of posts on X [Murad Sezer/Reuters]By Al Jazeera StaffPublished On 26 Jul 202626 Jul 2026Iran’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. “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 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. On June 26, following the signing of the US-Iran MoU, Lebanon and Israel signed a US-mediated framework agreement stipulating a phased Israeli withdrawal from occupied Lebanese territory, but without a timetable for the withdrawal. Instead, it said Israel will withdraw from occupied territories once Hezbollah is disarmed. Iran and Hezbollah have rejected the deal. While the first phase is Israel’s withdrawal from three “pilot zones”, the Lebanese army said on Sunday that Israeli forces are obstructing the process, including by refusing to withdraw from designated territories. As of Sunday, Israel was still bulldozing, shelling and conducting combing operations with machineguns across large areas of southern Lebanese territory it is occupying. At least 4,329 people have been killed, while 37 Israeli soldiers and four Israeli civilians have died in the latest round of violence in Lebanon. Israel violated a previous ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel more than 10,000 times, according to UN peacekeepers. Mojtaba Khamenei is the son of the former Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. He was selected as supreme leader after the US and Israel’s assassination of his father. Khamenei’s statement on Lebanon comes as war spreads into Yemen, with reports of an exchange of attacks between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia. Advertisement AboutAboutShow moreAbout UsCode of EthicsTerms and ConditionsEU/EEA Regulatory NoticePrivacy PolicyCookie PolicyCookie PreferencesAccessibility StatementSitemapWork for usConnectConnectShow moreContact UsUser Accounts HelpAdvertise with usStay ConnectedNewslettersChannel FinderTV SchedulePodcastsSubmit a TipPaid Partner ContentOur ChannelsOur ChannelsShow moreAl Jazeera ArabicAl Jazeera EnglishAl Jazeera Investigative UnitAl Jazeera MubasherAl Jazeera DocumentaryAl Jazeera BalkansAJ+Our NetworkOur NetworkShow moreAl Jazeera Centre for StudiesAl Jazeera Media InstituteLearn ArabicAl Jazeera Centre for Public Liberties & Human RightsAl Jazeera ForumAl Jazeera Hotel PartnersFollow Al Jazeera English: