US–Iran peace talks tested by war of words between Trump and Ghalibaf
- By AFP -
- Jun 21, 2026
Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned the United States on Sunday against making threats at the Islamic republic, vowing that “our armed forces are ready to respond”.
“Don’t they think that if their threats had any effect, they would not have reached today’s state of desperation? We do not take American threats into account,” said Ghalibaf, after US President Donald Trump threatened to strike Iran over its support for Hezbollah.
“They would do better to be careful with their statements; our armed forces are ready to respond to them in a different manner. No matter what they say, we are the ones who act.”
Earlier Sunday, Trump had posted on his Truth Social platform: “Iran must immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble.”
“If they don’t, we’ll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder!!!” he added.
The fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, sparked by the Tehran-backed liberation group attacking Israel in support of Iran in the wider war, has repeatedly threatened to derail peace efforts.
By Sunday evening, however, there had been no reports of Israeli strikes or continued fighting.
Ghalibaf’s comments came as the US and Iran held talks in Switzerland alongside Pakistani and Qatari mediators, after signing a preliminary agreement to end their war earlier this week.
The Iranian news agency Fars reported that Trump’s threats led to the suspension of the talks — a claim not immediately confirmed by any official source.
Article 1 of the memorandum of understanding signed by Iran and the US earlier this month notably states that the two countries undertake “to refrain from the threat or use of force against each other”.