Lebanese FM: Talks with Israel show Lebanon ceasefire not part of US-Iran negotiations

Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter

Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi in Beirut on January 7, 2026 (Anwar AMRO / AFP)
Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi in Beirut on January 7, 2026 (Anwar AMRO / AFP)

Upcoming direct talks with Israel underscore Lebanon’s independence from US-Iran talks, Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi tells his German counterpart Johann Wadephul.

“Lebanon is seeking, through direct negotiations with Israel, to reach a ceasefire,” writes Raggi on X after the call. “I stressed that this track has in practice reinforced the separation between the Lebanese file and the Iranian track.”

In talks in Pakistan over the weekend, Iran demanded that a halt on Israeli attacks on Hezbollah be included as part of an agreement with the US.

In a swipe at Iran and its Lebanese proxy, Hezbollah, Raggi says he also stressed “that the Lebanese state alone holds the authority to negotiate on behalf of Lebanon, in a clear message that reestablishes the principle of national sovereignty at the heart of Lebanese diplomacy.”

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