Ceasefire very likely to end if Israeli attacks on Lebanon persist, Iranian TV says

DUBAI: A ceasefire agreed between Iran and the United States in early April is very likely to end if Israeli attacks on Tehran-backed Hezbollah in ​Lebanon persist, Iranian state TV said on Monday, without providing further details.

Earlier, the Iranian state news agency Tasnim said Tehran was halting indirect negotiations with the U.S. after Israel ordered its troops ‌to push deeper into Lebanon, complicating diplomatic efforts to end three months of war.

There was no immediate confirmation of the reports from Iranian officials, while U.S. President Donald Trump told an NBC reporter that he had not heard from Iran on any suspension of talks. Trump also said too much was said publicly, adding: “I think going silent would be very good”.

In its report, Tasnim said Iran’s negotiating team was stopping exchanging messages with Washington through mediators over attacks on Lebanon, where the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran has reignited Israel’s conflict with Hezbollah.

The ​move poses a further obstacle to hopes of a swift end to the crisis, after Iran said it had attacked a U.S. air base following weekend U.S. strikes on Iranian military targets that put further ​strain on a fragile ceasefire.

Oil prices rose more than $6 a barrel after the Tasnim report.

ISRAELI ATTACKS IN LEBANON

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered attacks on the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs ⁠of Beirut on Monday, prompting another wave of displacement in a conflict that has already uprooted more than 1 million people in Lebanon.

Netanyahu’s office accused Hezbollah of repeated violations of a ceasefire agreed in late April.

Trump earlier reiterated ​on social media that he believed Tehran wants to reach a deal. But hopes of a breakthrough were tempered by comments by Iranian officials criticising the “constantly changing” U.S. negotiating stance.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi also raised Lebanon, where another ceasefire ​is in place, as a stumbling block.

“Violation on one front is a violation of the ceasefire on all fronts. The U.S. and Israel are responsible for the consequences of any violation,” he said on X.

Responding to Israeli evacuation warnings to Beirut residents, the commander of Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Command, Ali Abdollahi, said in a statement carried by state media that people living in northern Israel should “leave the area if they do not want to be harmed”.

The war launched by the U.S. and Israel on February 28 has killed ​thousands of people, mainly in Iran and Lebanon. It has also caused global economic pain by pushing up energy prices since Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global supply route for oil and liquefied natural ​gas.

FRAYING CEASEFIRES

Tasnim said Iran and the Resistance Front, which includes its Shi’ite allies in Yemen, Lebanon and Iraq, had set an agenda to completely block the strait and activate other fronts, including the Bab El Mandeb Strait, to “punish” Israel and its supporters.

If ‌the Houthis, Iran’s ⁠allies in Yemen, open a new front in the conflict, one obvious target would be the Bab El Mandeb Strait off the coast of Yemen, a shipping chokepoint and narrow passageway that controls sea traffic towards the Suez Canal.

Referring to Iran’s demands on Lebanon, Tasnim said “there will be no talks until Iran and the resistance’s views on this matter are met.”

According to Iranian sources close to decision-makers, Tehran is pushing for a limited interim agreement with the U.S. in a bid to ease mounting economic pressure and stabilise the situation at home, while avoiding major concessions on its nuclear programme.

Iran and the U.S. have sporadically traded blows despite their ceasefire, while Pakistan has been trying to mediate a durable peace ​agreement.

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar expressed concern about ​the sustainability of the ceasefire on Monday during ⁠talks with his Iranian counterpart Araqchi, the Pakistani foreign ministry said.
The U.S. military said it had at the weekend struck Iranian air defences, a ground control station and two drones that were threatening ships after “aggressive Iranian actions”, including shooting down a U.S. drone over international waters.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Monday it had targeted an air base ​used by the U.S. in response to an attack on southern Iran.

It did not identify the base, but Kuwait activated air defences on Monday and denounced Iranian missile ​and drone attacks, which it said ⁠were undermining efforts to reduce tensions in the region.

U.S. forces intercepted two Iranian ballistic missiles targeting American forces based in Kuwait late on Sunday, the U.S. military said on Monday, adding that no American personnel were harmed.

TRUMP UNDER PRESSURE

Trump is under pressure to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and get U.S. gasoline prices down before November congressional elections, as voters show increasing frustration over rising prices. At the same time, he faces a potential backlash from Iran hawks in his own party over ⁠any concessions to ​Tehran.

Trump has said his main aim in the war is to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon with its highly enriched uranium. ​Tehran denies planning to develop a nuclear arsenal.

The sides are also at odds on other issues, such as Tehran’s demands for the lifting of sanctions and the release of tens of billions of dollars of Iranian oil revenue frozen in foreign banks.

Iran also wants the U.S. to lift ​a blockade of its ports, imposed after Tehran effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz earlier in the war.