Iran is demanding that Israel withdraw from southern Lebanon and cease fighting if the interim deal struck with the US is to progress, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said, in the latest sign that the Israeli campaign against Hezbollah is a major threat to the ceasefire.In some of the most detailed official Iranian comments since the agreement was announced on Sunday, Mr Araghchi said Iran declared an end to the war “on all fronts, with an emphasis on Lebanon”.The insistence on the ceasefire applying to Israel’s campaign in Lebanon contradicts declarations by the Israeli prime minister and defence minister on Monday that their forces will not withdraw from territory occupied since the Gaza War broke out, including in southern Lebanon.Israel launched a push into the country this year, occupying vast parts of the south, displacing millions, and destroying infrastructure.In a press conference on Monday evening, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would “remain in the security zones for as long as necessary to protect our country,” adding that the “struggle is not over and complete”.“We will need to continue standing guard, continue being strong and determined, and defend ourselves as much as necessary.”Earlier in the day, Defence Minister Israel Katz said these “zones” in Syria, Lebanon, and Gaza would continue to be “cleared of local residents, and all terror infrastructure, above and below ground, including the houses in the contact-line villages that served as terror outposts, which will be destroyed”.Inseparable part of dealMr Araghchi's demand for Israeli withdrawal in Lebanon a day later raised questions about how long the deal can last, with the next phase of negotiations expected to begin on Friday in Switzerland.“The important point I want to emphasise here is that in our view, the two parties to this memorandum are the United States and Israel on one side, and Iran and Hezbollah on the other,” Mr Araghchi said.“The end of the war in Lebanon is an inseparable part of the complete end of the war, and the end of the war also includes the end of the occupation, and the end of the war is not complete without the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the lands it occupied in this war,” he added.Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi gives a statement at the Ritz Hotel as he meets Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, on January 30, 2026 in Istanbul, Turkey. Getty ImagesInfo“Indeed, any military attack by the Zionist regime on Lebanon from now on and the continued occupation of Lebanese lands is considered a violation of the memorandum of understanding in our view.”US Vice President JD Vance said on Monday that the US believed “quite firmly that when the Israeli people understand what’s in this agreement, they’re going to see this as a pathway to a new Middle East, to peace and prosperity in that region”.Continuing strikesThe dilemma about the viability of the deal was made more urgent with the return of displaced residents of southern Lebanon, some of whom began returning as soon as the deal was announced. Israel has consistently said emptying the border region of its residents is a part of its strategy and frequently issues displacement orders to the entire population of target areas.Strikes have not stopped in southern Lebanon after the deal was announced. Lebanese media reported an Israeli drone strike on a vehicle in southern Lebanon on Tuesday morning, as well as artillery fire in the Jezzine district. Israel’s military has not yet commented on these strikes.Mr Netanyahu also came under criticism from an Israeli mayor of a northern region who complained that tensions continued to worry residents.“If you thought, following the prime minister’s declaration, that quiet has returned to the Middle East, tonight has (again) proven otherwise,” Metula Regional Council head David Azoulay wrote, citing “non-stop” sounds of explosions in the area.Mr Netanyahu has repeatedly said that the war against Hezbollah was to ensure the safe return of Northern residents to their villages, including Metula, which has hardly been hit by Hezbollah drones and rockets.Mr Trump, at the G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains, in France, declared in a press conference that “Israel has been fighting Hezbollah for too long, and too many people have been killed”.He also asked Mr Netanyahu to be “more responsible with respect to Lebanon”, warning that it was not necessary to “knock down an apartment house every time you're looking for somebody, not everyone living there is Hezbollah …”