Odaily reported, citing CCTV News, that Li Zixin, an assistant researcher at the China Institute of International Studies, commented on the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran. In her view, when it comes to the act of signing itself, Israel cannot stop it. She said Israel is not a direct party to the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding and does not hold any veto power, meaning it has no formal procedural ability to block the two sides from completing the signing.
Israel Has No Direct Veto Over the Signing
Li said that, against the backdrop of the White House facing heavy domestic political pressure, Israel would find it even harder to influence President Trump’s own will. In other words, on the specific matter of whether the United States and Iran sign the memorandum of understanding, Israel lacks both the status of a direct participant and a formal veto mechanism. Its influence therefore does not lie in directly preventing the signing step.
At the same time, Li noted that Israel has never needed a formal veto in order to disrupt matters. According to her assessment, Israel has often relied on creating facts on the ground to undermine the conditions for a ceasefire. This means that even if Israel cannot stop the United States and Iran from signing, it can still exert pressure outside the signing process and interfere with the broader situation.
U.S. Influence and Iran’s Response Remain Central
On how much influence Israel can have over the situation, Li said the answer depends on two sides: the extent of U.S. influence and Iran’s response. She added that, considering both the United States and Iran have strong motivation to achieve a ceasefire, Israel would have difficulty fully disrupting the current situation.
However, Li also said the Israeli military can still keep creating friction at a low-intensity level. Such actions, in her words, would objectively increase the difficulty for the United States and Iran to reach a final ceasefire agreement. The comments were reported by CCTV News and were relayed by Odaily.