OCCUPIED JERUSALEM/TEHRAN — Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited troops in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, vowing that his country's forces would stay in the area as long as Iran-backed Hizbollah remained a "threat".

 

"Our position is clear: we will not leave southern Lebanon until the threat has disappeared. And as long as Hizbollah, armed, is here and threatening us, we will stay here," Netanyahu said according to a statement from his office.

 

He added that "Lebanon recognises Israel, Israel recognises Lebanon, and we say to Iran and to Hizbollah: leave this place, you no longer belong here... There are two sovereign states that want to live in peace".

 

Iran will respond to any US violation of the memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the war in the Middle East, its foreign ministry spokesperson said Tuesday, as delegations from both sides were expected in Qatar for indirect talks on the deal.

 

"We will not leave any action unanswered. As Iran's powerful armed forces have demonstrated, any act of aggression against the objectives of the Islamic Republic of Iran will be met with an immediate and decisive response," Esmaeil Baqaei told reporters at a weekly press conference.

 

"Such actions would constitute a violation of Article 1 of the memorandum of understanding. Naturally, if such violations are repeated and continue, the continuation of this process will encounter difficulties.