Iran and Lebanon Agree to Set Up Conflict Management Working Group

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Iran and Lebanon agreed to establish a “conflict management working group” that would also include U.S. participation to oversee implementation of Lebanon-related provisions in a recently signed Iran-U.S. peace memorandum of understanding. According to Jin10, Ghalibaf made the remarks after a phone call on June 28 with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. He said Iran’s negotiating delegation had repeatedly raised alleged breaches by other parties during Iran-U.S. talks held in Switzerland, and that Iran and Lebanon finalized the decision to form the working group in that context. On the same day, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei urged the swift development of a timetable to push for Israel’s unconditional withdrawal from occupied Lebanese territory. Iran’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that full implementation of Article 1 of the memorandum was a necessary precondition for reaching a permanent final agreement and achieving regional stability.