Iran halts negotiations with Washington
Iran suspended talks with U.S. over Israeli attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon, Iranian media reports.
Trump later posted that after discussions with Israel and representatives from Hezbollah about easing tensions, talks between the U.S. and Iran were back on “at a rapid pace.”
Iran suspended high-stakes talks with the United States on Monday to protest Israel’s expanding military offensive in Lebanon, according to government-aligned media, complicating efforts to end the three-month war.
“The Iranian negotiating team will suspend ‘talks and the exchange of texts through mediators,’” the semiofficial news agency Tasnim reported.
Iran warns of possible retaliation
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf told Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Monday that Iran might retaliate if Israeli attacks in Lebanon continue.
“Over the past two days, we have seriously pursued efforts to stop Israel’s attacks. If these crimes continue, we will not only suspend the negotiation process, but we will also stand against the Zionist regime,” Ghalibaf said, according to the state-owned Islamic Republic News Agency. “If an agreement is reached to end the war between Iran and the United States, it will include a halt to attacks on all fronts, especially in Lebanon.”
Iran’s Foreign Affairs Ministry also said in a statement Monday that the U.S. “bears direct responsibility both for the violations of the ceasefire against Iran and for the violations committed by the Zionist regime against Lebanon.”
Trump says tensions may ease
President Donald Trump wrote Monday afternoon on Truth Social that he had spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and representatives from Hezbollah. He said no troops would go to Beirut.
“I had a very productive call with Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, of Israel, and there will be no Troops going to Beirut, and any Troops that are on their way, have already been turned back,” he wrote. “Likewise, through highly placed Representatives, I had a very good call with Hezbollah, and they agreed that all shooting will stop — That Israel will not attack them, and they will not attack Israel.”
Trump posted about the issue again on Truth Social later in the day.
“I had a conversation with Bibi Netanyahu today, asking him not to go into a major raid of Beirut, Lebanon. He turned his Troops around. Thank you Bibi!” he wrote. “I also had a conversation with Representatives of the Leaders of Hezbollah, and they agreed to stop shooting at Israel, and its soldiers. Likewise, Israel agreed to stop shooting at them. Let’s see how long that lasts — Hopefully it will be for ETERNITY!”
Lebanon outlines ceasefire proposal
The Lebanese Embassy in Washington noted in a statement Wednesday afternoon that Hezbollah had accepted the terms of a U.S. proposal “for a mutual cessation of attacks.”
“Under the proposed arrangement, Israeli strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs would cease in exchange for Hezbollah refraining from attacks against Israel,” the embassy said. “The ceasefire would then be expanded to encompass all Lebanese territory.”
The embassy also said that Trump had contacted the Lebanese ambassador to the U.S. to tell her that Netanyahu had agreed to the arrangement.
Netanyahu later posted on X that the Israel Defense Forces would strike Beirut if Hezbollah attacks do not stop.
“I spoke this evening with President Trump and told him that if Hezbollah does not stop attacking our cities and civilians, Israel will strike terrorist targets in Beirut,” Netanyahu wrote. “This remains our position. At the same time, the IDF will continue operating as planned in southern Lebanon.”
Iran signals military response
Ebrahim Azizi, the head of the Iranian Parliament’s national security commission, said on X that continued attacks in Lebanon could lead to a military response from Iran.
“If the attacks against Lebanon do not stop completely, the consequences will be severe for the Zionist regime and U.S. forces in the region,” Azizi wrote. “They are fully aware that this is not an empty threat, and we are prepared for a military response.”
Trump also claimed on Truth Social, without evidence, “Talks are continuing, at a rapid pace, with the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
Trump earlier told NBC News that he was not informed of the decision to suspend negotiations ahead of time but that “I think it’s fine if they’re done talking.”
“It’s an appropriate thing to say, because they’re better negotiators than they are fighters,” he said in a brief phone call. “But they haven’t informed us of that.”
“It doesn’t mean we’re going to go and start dropping bombs all over there,” added Trump, who said Friday he would soon decide on a proposed deal to extend an ostensible ceasefire agreed to in early April. “We’ll keep the blockade.”
He added: “If they don’t want to talk, that’s OK with me. I think it’s fine. I don’t particularly want to talk, either. We talk too much.”
Threats to key shipping routes
Tasnim earlier reported that Tehran would consider a full closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial shipping route that carried a fifth of the world’s oil supply before the war, and choking other waterways, including the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, with the aim of punishing Israel and its supporters.
Esmail Ghaani, the head of the Quds Force, the branch of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that operates outside of the country’s borders, said Monday that continued Israeli operations in Lebanon and Gaza would lead the “Axis of Resistance,” the group of regional militias allied with Iran, to block the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
The armed groups would “take action to activate other fronts and make the traffic situation in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait comparable to that of the Strait of Hormuz,” Ghaani said in comments Iranian state TV posted on Telegram.
Oil prices surged more than $6 per barrel following Tasnim’s report.
Conflict continues despite truce
The U.S. military and Iran exchanged strikes over the weekend and into Monday, the latest outburst of violence amid the truce.
Despite the truce, Israel has been pressing ahead with a military offensive in Lebanon, with its forces marking their deepest incursion into the country in 26 years over the weekend. On Monday, Netanyahu ordered attacks on the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs of Beirut, signaling further escalation.
On Feb. 28, the U.S. and Israel started the war, which has killed thousands of people, mostly in Iran and Lebanon, as well as 13 U.S. service members. It has also sent global energy prices soaring after Iran responded by effectively shutting down the Strait of Hormuz.
Negotiations over a peace deal had been ongoing amid disagreements over several issues, including the future of Iran’s nuclear and missile programs.
Source: NBC News
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