Lebanese President Joseph Aoun confirmed in an interview with CNN that Iran is using Lebanon as a leverage card in its talks with the United States.

He stressed "No other way except through negotiation, and Hezbollah must understand that", saying "the Secretary General of the party Naim Qassem does not represent the Lebanese people".

Aoun addressed Qassem saying "the Lebanese people are not your people", adding "my message to Iran is that our interests … do not coincide with your interests".

Naim Qassem (archive).

He explained that "my message to Iran is that you are not trying to help us", adding "my message to Iran is that the Lebanese are paying the price of your own interests".

He also stated that "we have achieved a major breakthrough in the negotiations", confirming that "an agreement could be a path toward moving forward to a just and lasting peace".

He pointed out that "the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps must realize that Lebanon is our country and not theirs".

He said in an interview with CNN regarding a possible meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu: "this will not happen before reaching an agreement to end the war", noting that "the state of hostility between Lebanon and Israel must end forever".

Negotiation round between Lebanon and Israel (AFP).

The agreement between Lebanon and Israel...

Earlier, a joint statement issued by the United States, Lebanon, and Israel said that the Lebanese and Israeli sides had agreed to implement a U.S.-brokered ceasefire.

The U.S. State Department stated that the two sides agreed to accelerate the establishment of pilot zones in which the Lebanese Armed Forces would have exclusive control over the ground, with the exclusion of all non-governmental actors.

According to the State Department statement, the ceasefire is "conditional on the complete cessation of fire by Hezbollah and the removal of all its elements from the area south of the Litani River".

Regarding outstanding issues between the two sides, the U.S. State Department said that both parties committed to continue direct negotiations to resolve them and reach a comprehensive agreement.

Yesterday, Thursday, Hezbollah rejected the ceasefire agreement announced in Washington, and its Secretary General Naim Qassem called for a comprehensive ceasefire and Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon, considering direct negotiations between Lebanon and Israel a "farce".

In a televised speech, Qassem described the agreement as "a roadmap for the extermination of part of the Lebanese people and the enslavement of the rest", considering that demanding that Hezbollah alone stop fire and leave the south would amount to "surrender and defeat".

He affirmed "as long as the aggression continues, we will confront it with all the strength we have".