Iran Halts Talks with US Over Lebanon-Israel Conflict

KATHMANDU. Iran has halted talks and exchange of draft proposals with the United States through mediators regarding Israel's actions in Lebanon, Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Monday.

"There will be no talks until the demand to immediately stop Israeli operations in Gaza and Lebanon is met," Iran's statement said.

A ceasefire in Lebanon is one of Iran's preconditions for continuing the ceasefire with the United States in April, but now the ceasefire has been violated on all fronts.

Iran and its allies have stated that they are on an agenda to completely block the 'Strait of Hormuz' and activate other options including the Bab al-Mandab strait in return.

Iran's Foreign Minister Saeed Abbas Araghchi said in a social media post that a ceasefire violation between Iran and the US on any front is equivalent to a ceasefire violation on all fronts.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said that the US naval blockade against Iran and Israel's increased war crimes in Lebanon are clear evidence that the US has not observed the ceasefire.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ismail Baghai said at a weekly press conference that the talks to end the war have stopped due to the US's 'new and contradictory' demands.

A ceasefire was reached between Iran and the US on April 8 after 40 days of fighting. After that, they held a round of peace talks in Islamabad, Pakistan on April 11 and 12, but no agreement was reached.

In the past weeks, the two sides had exchanged several proposed plans through Pakistan's mediation, outlining peace conditions, and were working to finalize a memorandum of understanding with the aim of ending the war.

Israel and Lebanon had a ceasefire in mid-April, but despite the ceasefire, Israel has continued daily attacks in Lebanon. Hezbollah has also started attacking Israeli military posts as per its capability.

On Sunday, Israel claimed to have captured Beaufort Ridge in southern Lebanon, with the medieval Beaufort Castle coming under Israeli control. This is an area outside the 'security cordon' established by Israel with Lebanon after the ceasefire.

This is Israel's deepest incursion into Lebanon in more than two decades. This move has been condemned by the Arab world as well as France, Germany, and Britain.

Earlier on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israeli Katz said in a joint statement that they had ordered the army to attack the southern suburbs of Beirut. Katz later vowed to turn the Litani River area in southern Lebanon into a militarily controlled zone and continue attacks on Beirut until Hezbollah stops its attacks.