Israel bombs Beirut, Netanyahu seems “ready to do anything to torpedo the Iranian-American agreement”

Benyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, seems “ready to do anything to torpedo the Iranian-American agreement†. This is the observation drawn up by the Lebanese newspaper The Orient-The Day, this Sunday, June 14, when Israeli strikes left three people dead in the southern suburbs of Beirut. An attack justified by the Hebrew state as a response to shots fired by pro-Iranian Hezbollah in the south of its territory.

In the process, Israel declared that it expected “possible Iranian retaliatory missile launches, Tehran having warned that the strike on Beirut ‘would not go unanswered’†, relate The Times of Israël, à Jérusalem.

The context is more delicate than ever, since these strikes occur “while the United States and Iran are still negotiating a deal to end the war that Washington and Israel launched against the Islamic Republic [le 28 février dernier]†, recalls the American business media Bloomberg.

The President of the United States, Donald Trump, keeps repeating that a “deal” is close, and that it would even be concluded this Sunday, for his 80th birthday. A promise to which Pakistan, which plays mediator, subscribes, but which was denied by Iran even before the Israeli strikes in Beirut, reports the Qatari media Al-Jazeera, in his continuous English-speaking news feed.

The Middle East “holds its breathâ€

Still, the Middle East − and in particular the Gulf countries − “holds his breath†faced with the possibility of an agreement, relates The Jerusalem Post. “For months, rumors have been circulating about a potential agreement, followed by inevitable disappointment when it does not materialize… bellows the right-wing Israeli daily.

According to Bloomberg, Téhéran demands that “any permanent ceasefire also applies to Lebanon − a condition that […] Netanyahu says he cannot accept until Hezbollah is disarmed and stops shooting at Israel.

Netanyahu wants to “maximize his chances”

À Beyrouth, The Orient-The Day suggests a more subtle explanation: in the eyes of the Israeli Prime Minister, any Iranian-American agreement would sound like “the prelude to a political and electoral defeat†. If he wants “maximize your chances†to be reappointed to his post at the end of the legislative elections next fall, Netanyahu has every interest “to provoke Iran into returning to war and dragging the United States into it†, develops the French-speaking daily life.

“If he doesn’t succeed, he continues, he intends to make up for it militarily and politically in Lebanon… militarily by continuing his war against Hezbollah, politically by imposing an agreement on the Lebanese state…. This design comes into direct contradiction with that of Donald Trump, who seeks to “end the war in order to address the midterm elections†, scheduled for November, adds L’Orient-Le Jour.