US says Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire 'within our grasp'
The US envoy to the Middle East, Amos Hochstein, said on Tuesday there is a real opportunity for a ceasefire deal between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah.
The US envoy to the Middle East, Amos Hochstein, said on Tuesday there is a real opportunity for a ceasefire deal between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah.
It comes as Israel continues air strikes deep into central Beirut and Hezbollah, Iran’s largest proxy, fires dozens of projectiles daily into Israel.
Speaking at a press conference in Beirut following talks with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, Hochstein said that the deal is now within reach."It is now within our grasp. As the window is now, I hope the coming days yield a resolute decision."
He made the remarks just one day day after the Lebanese government and Hezbollah, designated a terror group by the US and multiple other nations, agreed to a US ceasefire proposal, dependent upon revisions.
Hochstein added, ”I came back because we have a real opportunity to bring this conflict to an end... This is a moment of decision-making. I am here in Beirut to facilitate that decision but it's ultimately the decision of the parties to reach a conclusion to this conflict."
A senior Lebanese politician who stands against Hezbollah, who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons, told Iran International the situation looks likely to take time. "I feel that as the discussion goes further than the headline principles they start revealing different interpretations by the various parties which creates complications," he said.
It is also happening outside of the constitutional process which makes it complex from the side of the Lebanese government.
"This is practically a negotiation between Hezbollah and Israel with the Lebanese Speaker of Parliament being a mediator with Hochstein representing one of the parties and not the Lebanese state, which is practically not part of this discussion given that the discussion is taking place outside the constitutional process," he said.
"The fact is, the state was not involved in the war decision and did not engage in such a war. However, the state will have to guarantee the peace."
The deal could be a parting gift from the Biden administration before President-elect Donald Trump comes to office for his second term in January, allowing further peace treaties to be brokered by the next administration.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a former Israeli diplomat told Iran International, “This will be Trump’s way to get straight down to business. He will want to shore up peace with Saudi and Israel as he needs peace in order to start making money.”
In 2020, Trump brokered historic peace deals between Israel and Arab states including the United Arab Emirates in the Abraham Accords. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be eager to please Trump, the source said, as he too wants to add peace with Saudi, broadening the Abraham Accords, to his legacy.
Israel’s longest serving premier ordered a mission which saw around 1,500 Hezbollah operatives taken out of action in September when two days of pager and walkie-talkie explosions hit the group in the most debilitating operation since its founding.
Just days later, Israel assassinated the head of the group, Hassan Nasrallah, part of a stream of killings targeting Hezbollah’s top chain of command.
Another source in the Israeli government told Iran International that depending on the next stages of the process, Hochstein may make his next stop Israel.
Israel has been fighting against Iran-backed Hamas, designated a terror group by the US, the UK and EU, since the attacks of October 7 last year in which over 1,100 mostly civilians were killed and more than 250 people taken hostage.
On October 8, Hezbollah joined the war on Israel’s northern front and has since fired over 17,000 projectiles into the Jewish state as it battles Iran’s militias from multiple fronts. Iranian militias in Yemen, Syria, Iraq and the West Bank have also joined the campaign against Israel.
As scores of projectiles continued to be fired into Israel amid Israeli strikes in Lebanon, Hezbollah media, Al Mayadeen, quoted political commentator Radwan Aqil as saying, ”We are facing a diplomatic and political juncture led by Speaker Berri and Prime Minister Najib Mikati."
He said the Lebanese side “will not accept any concession that affects Lebanon's sovereignty," stressing that "there is a national consensus, even from the opposition, to refuse to allow the Israelis to violate Lebanese sovereignty."
Israel continues to push for a clause which secures the right to self-defence as the negotiations continue with 63,000 Israelis displaced amid the conflict which has since seen hundreds of thousands of Lebanese forced into shelters.
On Tuesday, while negotiations continued, Al Mayadeen journalist Ali Mortada warned on X: “I told you, Haifa is the future of Tel Aviv,” suggesting the barrage hitting Israel’s northern city will soon be reaching Tel Aviv in central Israel. “If you want to ceasefire we will, if you don’t, we won’t,” he said.
Ahmad Ajam, a member of the Iranian parliament who secured his seat with a modest share of votes in his constituency, is among those eager for dialogue. He has even proposed including a cease-fire in Gaza and Lebanon as a topic for talks, disregarding the risks faced by higher-ranking politicians who have suggested negotiations with US officials without the prior approval of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi faced serious backlash after rumors emerged that Iran's chief diplomat in New York, Saeed Iravani, had engaged in secret talks with Trump advisor Elon Musk and even promoted investment in Iran. The hardliner daily *Kayhan*, closely aligned with Khamenei's office, sharply criticized Araghchi and went as far as accusing him of treason.
The news of the meeting, shared with The New York Times by two unnamed Iranian officials, was likely an attempt to gauge reactions from Khamenei and the IRGC, the key power brokers in Iran's government, to see if they would support or oppose the proposal. Critics also accused Araghchi of being complicit with former Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, who negotiated the 2015 nuclear deal, which hardliners claimed primarily benefited the West.
On Sunday, 207 of Iran's 290 lawmakers approved the urgency of a bill calling for the dismissal of officials like Javad Zarif, whose children allegedly hold US citizenship. Iranian media report that the bill is specifically aimed at Zarif within the government.
Amid this, Ebrahim Asgharzadeh, a leader of the 1979 US embassy takeover in Tehran, in which over 50 US diplomats were held hostage, told a Tehran news outlet that "with or without negotiations with Trump, time is against Iran."
Asgharzadeh emphasized that "only innovative talks on equal footing with the United States can shift the situation in Iran's favor," while noting that "even confidence-building with China and Russia is no longer sufficient to help Iran." Now regarded as a Reformist figure, he reiterated that "dismantling the security net surrounding Iran could potentially end its dangerous isolation and pave the way for the country’s development."
He further warned that "provocative slogans and ambitious claims will surely rally the world's public opinion against us." A good example of such provocations and ambitions was Kayhan’s article that said, "If rumors about the meeting between Musk and Iravani were true, it would have been a dangerous and damaging development that would have undermined Iran's dignity and authority."
Kayhan previously accused Reformists and centrists in Iran of attempting to portray Trump as having changed since 2016, suggesting that engaging in talks with him could be Iran's path out of isolation. The publication claimed that US administrations are convinced they can extract concessions from Iran by encouraging Iranians to rise against their government, as seen in the numerous protests since 2018.
In his interview, Asgharzadeh warned that time is running out and that persisting with outdated policies will not benefit Tehran. He emphasized that Iran's primary challenge lies with the United States, a conflict he believes poses a threat to the Islamic Republic's very existence. Asgharzadeh noted that in its dispute with the US, Iran adopts a confrontational stance toward a third country, Israel, while simultaneously advocating for the rights of a fourth, the Palestinians.
The reformist figure argued that while Iran claimed President Masoud Pezeshkian's victory in the July election signaled a shift toward change and readiness for rapprochement with the West, the decision to invite Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh to his inauguration undermined that message.
He observed that Trump aims to establish a new order in the Middle East and cautioned that, under the current circumstances, any action provoking a US military strike on Iran could devastate the country's economy and infrastructure, potentially triggering a domestic revolt. Instead, he advocated for a strategy of creative diplomacy to minimize the risk of military aggression against Tehran.