Trumps Lebanon deal puts Iran agreement to the test with wild card Hezbollah: US official

The Trump administration’s new Israel-Lebanon deal isn’t separate from its landmark memorandum of understanding with Iran — it’s the first major test of whether the agreement can prevent another regional war that could again drag the US back into conflict, a US government official told The Post.The deal allows Israel Defense Forces to remain in southern Lebanon until Hezbollah is disarmed and the Lebanese Armed Forces can manage the terror group’s threat to both countries — a provision the official said reinforces Beirut’s sovereignty, as envisioned in the MOU.“The Trump Administration is working to achieve a sovereign Lebanon that isn’t being threatened internally by Hezbollah, and Hezbollah cannot use southern Lebanon to pose a threat to neighbors,” the official said.The big test now is whether the LAF can achieve “the disarmament of Hezbollah and dismantlement of the terrorist infrastructure in a way that is conducive to long-term stability,” the person said.The arrangement has quickly become an early flashpoint between Washington and Tehran, boiling down to one question: Does “Lebanese sovereignty” mean Israel must leave immediately — as Iran argues — or does it mean Lebanon’s desire to crack down on Hezbollah is respected and supported, as the US contends.Iran — Hezbollah’s chief backer — rejects the latter interpretation, with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arguing last month that the Israel-Lebanon agreement itself violates the US-Iran MOU.“Without the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the territories they occupied during this war, the war has not fully come to an end,” he said.While the document calls for “ensuring the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Lebanon” — which the US official claimed was accomplished with the agreement — Iran considers the language about “sovereignty” to mean Israel leaves the country immediately.The US believes the agreement reflects the decisions of two sovereign gove...