Days after Israel ramped up its offensive against Hezbollah and targeted sites in Lebanon, Iran has reportedly suspended talks with the United States in protest at Israel’s actions in Lebanon.
Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported the development and added, “Given the continuation of the Israeli regime’s attacks in Lebanon, and considering that Lebanon had been one of the preconditions for a ceasefire — which has now been violated on all fronts, including Lebanon — the Iranian negotiating team is suspending ‘talks and exchanges of texts through mediators.'”
Tehran has called for the immediate halt of Israel’s war in Gaza and Lebanon, along with the Israeli army’s full withdrawal from Beirut, the agency reported, adding that “until Iran’s and the resistance’s position on these matters is satisfied, there will be no negotiations.”
It further said that the Islamic Republic and allied militant groups in the region have placed on their agenda the “complete closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the activation of other fronts,” including the Bab el-Mandeb strait at the southern end of the Red Sea, where Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have previously launched attacks on passing vessels.
The development comes hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday (local time) ordered the military to strike Beirut’s Dahieh district, the city’s southern suburb that is a Hezbollah stronghold. An Israeli official told CNN that plans to strike Beirut were coordinated with the US.
This is a developing story. More details awaited.
