Israel must withdraw on its own from Lebanon’s entire territory or be forced to flee in defeat, the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force Esmaeil Qaani said on Thursday, according to state media.
“You are required to evacuate all of Lebanon. Should you fail to retreat on your own accord today, you will inevitably be driven out in humiliation and failure tomorrow,” he said.
Earlier, senior Israeli and Lebanese officials denied that there had been any Israeli withdrawal from occupied southern Lebanon, after a US official said Israel had pulled some of its troops back in a good-faith gesture toward Lebanon’s government.
Israel and Lebanon have been discussing a US-backed proposal for Israeli forces to transfer some of the Lebanese territory invaded in their war with Hezbollah to Lebanon’s military, in a possible step toward restoring Lebanese control of ?occupied territory.
The “pilot zone” proposal has been part of the latest round of Israeli-Lebanese talks in Washington, which have gone on even as they appear to be eclipsed by Iran’s move to make Lebanon central to its own talks with the United States.
A US State Department official said the pilot zone process was aimed at ensuring the complete and verifiable destruction of Hezbollah’s weapons and infrastructure and the dismantlement of non-state armed groups.
“Israel has already taken a concrete step by pulling back from a part of its buffer ?zone. This is a significant demonstration of good faith toward Lebanon’s legitimate government,” the State Department official said.
“The (Lebanese Armed Forces) should now move in and verifiably clear out terrorist weapons and infrastructure. This model will be repeated across South Lebanon, enabling the safe return of displaced ?families, reconstruction of the south, and the restoration of full Lebanese sovereignty,” the official added.
A senior Israeli defence official told Reuters that Israel’s policy was clear and that the military would not ?be withdrawing from its so-called “buffer zone” in southern Lebanon.
Asked about the State Department official’s comments, a senior Lebanese military official said developments on the ground in recent days “show ?the opposite of a pullback”.
The official said Israeli forces had been enforcing their buffer zone against anyone approaching it, including Lebanese army troops.
Separately, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Gulf Arab allies that any deal with Iran would take their interests into account, as he wrapped up a Middle East trip aimed at selling the Trump administration’s preliminary accord to sceptical regional partners.
Speaking at a meeting of Gulf Arab foreign ministers and officials in Bahrain – home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet – Rubio said Washington was seeking an enduring peace with long-time foe Iran that would not undermine the security and prosperity of its allies in the oil-rich region, which fear the accord is too soft on Iran after it attacked them in the war.
Iran fought two of the world’s most powerful armies during the conflict and took effective control of the vital Strait of Hormuz, heavily disrupting oil flows and rattling global energy markets and the wider economy.
Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, who chaired the gathering, welcomed Oman’s announcement of a corridor for the safe passage of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz.
Rubio’s three-day tour of the Gulf is the first high-level diplomatic mission since the US-Iran framework agreement last week to end the conflict, which started on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes on Iran.
He has acknowledged the delicacy of his mission as he seeks to win over Gulf Arab leaders wary that excessive concessions could strengthen Tehran and reshape the region’s security balance and oil flows.
At his previous stops in the UAE and Kuwait, Rubio sought to assure officials that the proposed deal was not overly favourable to Iran, which struck several Gulf states during the war.
“We’re not going to do anything that undermines the security of our allies, our longstanding allies in the region,” he told reporters in Kuwait.
Moreover, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps said safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz was only possible through routes designated by Iran, and that a new route announced without coordination with Iran is unacceptable and a safety risk.
In a statement carried by the official IRNA news agency, the IRGC said it would take action against vessels that fail to comply with the requirements.
The IRGC added that coordination with its naval forces through international maritime Channel 16 was mandatory for vessels crossing the strait, warning that violators would face action.
Meanwhile, Tehran accused NATO on Thursday of “complicity” in the US-Israeli war against Iran, after the bloc’s chief noted its support for the United States in the conflict.
Responding to US President Donald Trump’s criticism of allies for not supporting the war, NATO boss Mark Rutte told Fox News that hundreds of American planes launched from bases in Italy.
Trump’s second term has been marked by tensions with NATO allies, who have voiced scepticism over the need for the conflict in the Middle East.
“Country after country, ally after ally after ally, have made their bases available for Epic Fury,” Rutte told US TV channel Fox News, referring to the US military operation in Iran.
“Five hundred US planes took off from US bases in Italy to support Epic Fury,” he said, referring to the US name for the operation against Iran.
Trump had told Rutte on Wednesday he was “let down” by members of the alliance who did not back his war against Iran.
Rutte also told Fox News that Romania “cut down on commercial air flights and aeroplanes because they had to use the airports for the tanker facilities” during the Iran war.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei condemned the NATO chief’s admission of “active complicity” in the “unlawful war.”
“This is a clear and damning admission of NATO’s active complicity in an unlawful war of aggression against a sovereign UN Member State,” Baqaei wrote on X.
He accused NATO of “a flagrant violation of peremptory norms of international law and the core principles of the UN Charter.”
Italy was quick to distance itself from Rutte’s words, which the defence ministry said gave “a completely misleading message by confusing the type of flights that were authorised.” It said Italy had allowed only “technical and logistical” US flights during Epic Fury under existing agreements with the United States.