Iran Announces Suspension of Peace Talks with U.S.
Iran on Monday suspended high-stakes negotiations with the United States to protest Israel’s expanding military offensive in Lebanon, according to government-aligned media, complicating efforts to end the three-month war.
Tehran accused the President Donald Trump administration of ceasefire violations and will move to close the Strait of Hormuz and stop exchanging messages with the U.S. through intermediaries, Iran’s state-affiliated outlet Tasnim News Agency reported Monday.
The report, translated from a post on the messaging app Telegram, pointed to Israel’s military operations in Lebanon against the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah as a violation of the ceasefire with the U.S.
Iran said an Israeli ceasefire in Lebanon is a precondition for the ceasefire between Iran and the U.S. and that the ceasefire “has now been violated on all fronts.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on the social platform X that Lebanon is included in the ceasefire with the U.S. and that any violation on one front “shall be considered a violation of it across all fronts.
“The United States and Israel bear responsibility for the consequences of any breach of the truce,” it said. Israel announced Sunday it had captured Lebanon’s Beaufort Castle, a 900-year-old fortress located north of the Litani River that carries strategic military value and stands as a symbol of Israel’s occupation of the south of the country between 1982 and 2000.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday ordered attacks on Hezbollah-controlled neighborhoods in southern Beirut.
Meanwhile, the U.S. and Iran exchanged fire over the course of the weekend. U.S. Central Command said it struck Iranian air defenses, two drones that were threatening ships and a ground control station in response to “aggressive Iranian actions,” including the shooting down of a U.S. MQ-1 “Predator” drone that was operating over international water.
The White House did not immediately return a request for comment.
Trump at 1:00 a.m. Monday posted on his social media site Truth Social that Iran “really wants to make a deal,” and he accused critics of the negotiations of jeopardising an agreement.
“Just sit back and relax, it will all work out well in the end – It always does! President DJT,” he wrote.
The pullback by Iran comes as President Trump over the weekend considered a preliminary deal to end the war that was negotiated by Washington and Tehran. Axios reported that Trump added amendments to the deal on Friday and transmitted it back to Iranian negotiators.
Trump announced in a Truth Social post Friday he was ending the U.S. naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz and that ships “caught in the Strait … may start the process of ‘heading home!’” T
he U.S. blockade was initiated to block Iranian ships and ships carrying Iranian oil from transiting the narrow maritime passageway. Nigeria’s Private Sector Activity Hits 9-Month High -PMI
