Iran says no peace talks with US until Israeli operations cease
Iran says there will be no peace talks with the US until its demands on the cessation of Israeli operations in Lebanon and Gaza are met, according to the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim news agency.
Tasnim reported that Iran’s negotiating team is pulling out of message exchanges through mediators with the US over Israel’s offensive in Lebanon.
Tasnim further reported that Iran and what it called its “resistance front”, or proxies, will look to completely block the strait of Hormuz. It said it will also look to “activate” other fronts, including the Bab el-Mandem strait, which sits off the coast of Yemen, across the Arabian peninsula from the strait of Hormuz.
The Houthis, an Islamist armed group that controls large parts of Yemen, are allies of Iran – they have previously targeted shipping in the Red Sea and likely the “resistance” referred to by Iran in the statement.
Key events
Iran Guards threaten ‘new fronts’ over Israel’s Lebanon offensive
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards threatened to open “new fronts” and keep the strait of Hormuz closed over Israel’s offensive in Lebanon, state media reported on Monday.
“Iran considers crossing the red lines in Lebanon and Gaza to mean direct war,” state TV quoted the Guards’ intelligence organisation as saying.
It added:
double quotation mark In return, it is determined to carry out defensive operations by taking meaningful actions and opening new fronts, in addition to preserving the strait of Hormuz equation.
William Christou
When Hussain Alawieh used to take tourists to Beaufort Castle, they would marvel at the view. The ancient hilltop fort, captured nearly 1,000 years earlier by Crusaders, still offered the same sweeping panoramic views of south Lebanon and the Litani River that empires fought over for a millennia.
On Sunday, the view from the castle was obscured by white phosphorus smoke, the toxic incendiary munition providing a smoke-screen for advancing Israeli soldiers. Out of the fog rose an Israeli flag, and the castle, for the first time in 26 years, was once again conquered.
In the age of drones and surveillance blimps, the value of the ancient hilltop fort is diminished. But to both Israelis and Lebanese, its capture carried psychological weight in a conflict that for six weeks had ground to a deadlock.
“The raising of the Israeli flag and the flag of the Golani Brigade above the castle caused a shock to me and to all southerners and Lebanese people,” said Alawieh, a tour guide based in south Lebanon.
The castle, Alawieh explained, was a symbol of steadfastness and of resistance in south Lebanon. Its thick stone walls helped its survive Israeli aerial bombing in the 1980s when it was used as a base by the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, and again, when Israel carried out a detonation in the castle upon its withdrawal in 2000.
“Raising the Israeli flag above it is intended to send a message of psychological domination and defeat to the population, conveying that the ‘sites you considered impregnable have fallen,’” said Alawieh.
The capture of the castle came as Israel’s invasion of south Lebanon lurched forward once again. The pace of the war in Lebanon had slowed since a supposed ceasefire on 17 April. With much of south Lebanon declared a no man’s land by Israel, it was impossible to tell what was happening on the battlefield.
The Lebanese parliament speaker has told the US that Hezbollah is ready for a full and immediate ceasefire with Israel and pledged to guarantee its implementation.
Nabih Berri informed the Trump administration on Sunday, Berri’s top adviser Ali Hamdan told Axios.
Iran’s state TV said on Monday that the probability of the ceasefire between Iran and the United States ending is high if Israeli attacks on Lebanon do not stop.
State TV did not give further details.
A cargo vessel transiting the Gulf about 40 nautical miles southeast of Umm Qasr, Iraq, has been hit by an unknown projectile on its starboard side, causing a large explosion, United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said on Monday.
UKMTO said it was unaware of any immediate environmental impact.
Oil prices jumped and equities slid on Monday as Middle East peace talks stumbled and tensions mounted between Iran and the United States.
Crude futures shot more than five percent higher as an Iranian news agency announced Tehran had suspended the negotiations with the United States
The United States and Iran had traded strikes over the weekend and Tehran had insisted that any deal to end the war must cover Israel’s escalating offensive into Lebanon.
The report by the Tasnim news agency cited the breakdown of the ceasefire and clashes in Lebanon as the reasons for the halt in suspending dialogue.
Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian on Monday promised Japan to enable the passage of its ships through the strait of Hormuz, which has been mostly closed since the start of the Middle East war in February.
“We will try to provide a smooth and easy passage for Japanese ships,” Pezeshkian told Japanese prime minister Sanae Takaichi during a phone conversation, according to the presidency.
Iran says no peace talks with US until Israeli operations cease
Iran says there will be no peace talks with the US until its demands on the cessation of Israeli operations in Lebanon and Gaza are met, according to the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim news agency.
Tasnim reported that Iran’s negotiating team is pulling out of message exchanges through mediators with the US over Israel’s offensive in Lebanon.
Tasnim further reported that Iran and what it called its “resistance front”, or proxies, will look to completely block the strait of Hormuz. It said it will also look to “activate” other fronts, including the Bab el-Mandem strait, which sits off the coast of Yemen, across the Arabian peninsula from the strait of Hormuz.
The Houthis, an Islamist armed group that controls large parts of Yemen, are allies of Iran – they have previously targeted shipping in the Red Sea and likely the “resistance” referred to by Iran in the statement.
Hezbollah says it is still fighting Israeli troops near Beaufort castle
Hezbollah said its fighters were still battling Israeli troops near south Lebanon’s Beaufort castle, a day after Israel said it seized the fortress and troops raised the Israeli flag there.
A statement issued by Hezbollah’s operations room, said its fighters were in a “battle of attrition against forces of the Israeli enemy army who are present in the area”, AFP reports.
Earlier today Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, said Israel intends to create a buffer zone around the Litani area of Lebanon. Israel held Beaufort castle from 1982 until 2000, using it as a base until its forces withdrew from Lebanon.
US forces intercepted two Iranian ballistic missiles targeting American forces based in Kuwait late on Sunday, the US military said on Monday.
It added that no American personnel were harmed.
