Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s top diplomat, rejected a “genocidal” post by Israel’s Itamar Ben-Gvir and said his comments must not be brushed off as those of some “random genocidal lunatic,” but as the position of the country.

Ben-Gvir posted on Friday for every tear of an Israeli mother, “a thousand Lebanese mothers must weep. All Lebanon must burn.”

He continued: “With all due respect to the Americans, Israel must make it clear to the entire world that the blood of our sons and the security of our citizens are not forfeit. All of Lebanon must burn. Our Supreme Court to protect the citizens of Israel and the soldiers of the IDF, and this commitment takes precedence of consideration.”

He continued: “Enough with the ping-pong. In the Middle East, you don’t win with measured responses and restraint — you need to go berserk. To obliterate to crush the terror.”

Araghchi responded: “This is not a rant by a random genocidal lunatic. It’s a public post by the national security minister of the Israeli regime. The genocidal death cult headquartered in Tel Aviv is a threat to all of humanity. It threatens all humans. Its only interest is permanent war.”

Araghchi, Iran’s top diplomat, said Tuesday that the ceasefire deal between the United States and Tehran hinges on whether Israel continues to attack Lebanon because that war has become “connected to the war with Iran, and the two fronts became intertwined and dependent on one another.”

“The Islamic Republic considered ending the war with Lebanon a requirement for ending the war with Iran from the very beginning,” he said, according to Press TV. He continued: “The end of the war includes the end of occupation. Without the withdrawal of Israeli forces from territories they occupied during this war, the war will have not been fully brought to an end.”

Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, said in an X post that the Trump administration made it clear that Iran and Hezbollah are not linked in the deal.

“Israel doesn’t need Iran’s permission to defend itself,” Huckabee posted. “The tether of terror must end.”

President Donald Trump was in France for the G7 summit and told reporters that Israel has been fighting Hezbollah for “too long, and too many people are being killed.”

“You don’t have to knock down an apartment house every time you’re looking for somebody. There are a lot of people in those apartment houses, and they’re not all Hezbollah,” Trump said.

He continued: “I’m not happy with the way Israel has handled themselves with Lebanon, and with Hezbollah. Israel would have been blown up a long time ago, had I not gotten involved.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that the struggle against Hezbollah has “not ended.”

“I want to make it clear: We will remain in the security zones as long as required in order to defend our country,” Netanyahu said, according to The New York Times. He told reporters that the deal struck between the U.S. and Iran was a decision made by Trump.

“We have our own interests,” he said.

The memorandum of understanding (MOU) that is expected to be signed in Switzerland later this week is not a permanent peace deal, but it ends the fighting to allow for 60 days to come up with a deal suitable for both sides. There are key questions that remain about the future of Iran’s nuclear program, the willingness of the Trump administration to offer sanctions relief, and, of course, the Lebanon issue.

Masoud Pezeshkian, the Iranian president, said Israel’s rejection of the ceasefire deal with the U.S. shows that Tehran emerged from the war victorious.

“The concern and anger of the Zionist regime (Israel) over this process is a clear sign of the success and victory of the Iranian nation. With divine grace, this path will continue with strength,” he said.