Rania Chakhtoura, “Akhbar al-Yawm” agency

Agreement underscores its ambiguity…Will Iran give up on Hezbollah's military version?

Source: It is unclear whether the agreement has been reached

"If there were no data calling for his return, the American envoy Amos Hochstein would not have come back to Lebanon"... But did the visit succeed and is there a shot of ceasefire soon? The answer is still unclear.

"I came back because we have a real opportunity to bring this conflict to an end", Hochstein said in front of the media, adding: "I'm here to facilitate that decision, but ultimately, it's up to the parties to reach a conclusion to this conflict". He hoped that the coming days would culminate in a final ceasefire resolution, stressing "the commitment to work with the governments of Lebanon and Israel to end the conflict".

Commenting on the visit, a source said that any achievement that can be reached is a joint achievement of the two US administrations (current and future), meaning that Hochstein has received the green light from President-elect Donald Trump.

He added, in an interview with the "Akhbar al-Yawm" agency, in case of failure, Israel will blame Iran and vice versa, but any ceasefire - if it happens - clearly means that Tehran has taken the decision to abandon Lebanon as an advanced arena for its influence, because the conditions that have been resolved are irreversible, most notably what is related to Southern Litani and the borders that with the ceasefire these areas will become reinforced by international forces without the presence of any military structure of Hezbollah.

The same source believed that mechanisms should be put in place to prevent 3 things:

First: The reconstruction of Hezbollah's structure in South of Litani.

Second: Rebuilding its military strength.

Third: The introduction of weapons through the Lebanese-Syrian border.

Here, the source stressed that the role of the Lebanese government lies in commitment, and in case it cannot commit to this, the international forces are responsible for the strict implementation of the new mechanisms.

In response to a question, the source said that if Iran accepts the conditions, it means that it has abandoned the Lebanese arena, and therefore the agreement will reflect a major concession, specifically the concession of Hezbollah with its military version.

However, the source continued: It is clear that Tehran is not yet in the possibility of entering into negotiations with the US administration related to its role in the region because such a thing takes time, so all it wants is to freeze the operations of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Lebanon, so that its concession is not free of charge.

Did the Hochstein visit work? The source replied: It is crucial to wait, because at the moment it is unclear whether the agreement has been reached.