Berri says framework deal ten times worse than the May 17 and 'will not pass'

Parliament Speaker and Hezbollah ally Nabih Berri said early Monday that the trilateral framework agreement between Lebanon, Israel and the United States would not pass as it did not guarantee Lebanon's rights.

"This agreement will not pass, and it will not be implemented in its current form," Berri said in a statement shared by his party the Amal movement, adding that it was "an agreement of 'dictates', not an agreement that preserves Lebanon's rights".

The deal paves the way for Lebanese-Israeli peace and conditions Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon on Hezbollah's disarmament.

Berri vowed to confront the deal politically and warned against internal strife.

"It is ten times worse than the May 17, 1983 agreement," he added, referring to the last time Lebanon and Israel signed a peace deal, which was then cancelled after pressure from Syria and its Lebanese allies.

Hezbollah repeatedly asked Lebanese authorities to link themselves to Iran's negotiations to end its war with the U.S., while Tehran has insisted any ceasefire for the Middle East war should include Lebanon.

In a phone conversation with Berri, the Iranian parliament speaker and head of Tehran's negotiating delegation Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said "our goal is to end the war in Lebanon, return the refugees to their homes and remove the occupation and the withdrawal of the Zionist regime from the Lebanese territory".