Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh speaking to BBC, called Israel’s attacks on Lebanon on Wednesday “a grave violation” of the ceasefire agreement, and said US must choose “between war and ceasefire – you cannot have it both at the same time,” as Washington has towed Tel Aviv’s position, maintaining that Lebanon was never formally mentioned in the ceasefire.
“You cannot ask for a ceasefire and then accept terms and conditions, accept areas the ceasefire is applied to, and name Lebanon, exactly Lebanon in that, and then your ally just start a massacre,” Khatibzadeh said.
Refusing the charge that Iran was directing, or otherwise had role in Hezbollah’s attacks on Israel, Khatibzadeh said “it is quite clear that Hezbollah is [a] pure Lebanese freedom movement.”
While not denying that Hezbollah fighters received direct training from IRGC officers, Khatibzadeh denied any Iranian involvement in the militant group’s actions, stating “it is not true that they are acting on behalf of us.”
He added that the agreement between the US and Iran applied to each country and its allies, even if not named, in a reference to Lebanon.
Despite Israel’s attacks in the southern parts of the country, the Iranian minister said that currently, Tehran remained “very much focused on getting [an agreement] done.”
Speaking on the subject of the Strait of Hormuz, Khatibzadeh, confirming its reopening post ceasefire, said, “Definitely, we are going to provide security for safe passage and it is going to happen after the United States actually withdraws this aggression.”
He said Iran would determine a “protocol which is going to run from now on safe passage in the Strait of Hormuz” with Oman “and, of course, with [the] international community.”
“I think that we have shown to everybody that energy security is important for Iran, it’s important for this body of water in the Persian Gulf, and we are going to abide by the international norms and international law … If safe passage mean[s] that a new protocol that ensure[s] forever that this body of water will be peaceful, then that’s okay” but that safety should be two-sided, Khatibzadeh said.
Citing the Islamic Republic’s “many doubts” and deep-rooted scepticism on the prospects for a final peace agreement with Washington, the minister suggested that Tehran widely believed the ceasefire to be only a stalling tactic, alleging that Washington could just be exhausting diplomatic channels all the while planning to revert to full-scale military action, or bring itself in a position where it will be “dictating and not compromising.”
