Seyed Mehdi Tabatabaei says Tehran remains committed to memorandum unless others violate their obligations
ISTANBUL — A senior aide to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned Friday that the US must prevent Israel from undermining peace efforts in the region amid growing strains over the recently signed deal between Tehran and Washington.
Seyed Mehdi Tabatabaei, deputy head of communications and information at the presidential office, said on the US social media platform X that Israel remains the main obstacle to peace and stability in the Middle East and would seek to prevent the newly signed memorandum between Iran and the US from developing into a final agreement.
“The main enemy of peace and stability in the Middle East is the occupying regime, and it will try to prevent the understanding between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the US from leading to an agreement,” he wrote.
Tabatabaei said Iran would remain committed to all its obligations under the memorandum — signed electronically on Wednesday by Pezeshkian and US President Donald Trump — unless the other side violated them.
“But the US must be very careful so that peace does not fall victim to the inherent mischief of a third party,” he added.
His remarks came as Israeli strikes in Lebanon continued despite the memorandum, reached after weeks or months of behind-the-scenes wrangling between the two sides.
Separately, a US official confirmed to Anadolu that Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire to take effect at 4 pm local time (1300GMT) Friday.
Earlier Friday, at least 31 people were killed and several others injured in a series of Israeli attacks on southern and eastern Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s official National News Agency.
According to the latest official figures, Israel’s military offensive in Lebanon, which began on March 2, has killed 3,912 people, injured 11,873 others, and displaced more than one million residents. — Anadolu Agency
