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Deal Talks, Strait at Risk
Iran is reviewing a proposed agreement with the United States to halt the war between the two countries, after Donald Trump said talks to reach a deal were continuing and he expected an agreement “over the next week” to extend the ceasefire and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
The conflict has hardened into a stalemate more than three months after the U.S. and Israel launched strikes against Iran, with the Strait of Hormuz “largely shut to maritime traffic” while Iran has not yet responded to a proposed final text of a temporary deal.
Iran is taking a “stern” approach, according to Mehr news, and the proposed interim arrangement Tehran is seeking includes an end to hostilities across all fronts, access to “billions of dollars in oil revenues,” waivers on crude exports, a lifting of a U.S. blockade on its ports, and continued leverage over the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump also said the negotiations were continuing and that there would be a deal over the next week to extend a ceasefire agreed in early April and reopen the strait, while Marco Rubio told lawmakers that Iran had agreed to negotiate aspects of its nuclear programme that it previously refused to discuss.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said 24 vessels had transited the strait in the past 24 hours after obtaining permission from the Guards’ navy, and General Sarder Mohebi said the “increase in the operational knowledge of the armed forces about the enemy” was a key takeaway from the U.S.-Israel war on Iran.
Lebanon Strikes Disrupt Talks
Iran suspended high-stakes negotiations with the United States on Monday to protest Israel’s expanding military offensive in Lebanon, according to Tasnim, which said the Iranian negotiating team would suspend “talks and the exchange of texts through mediators.”
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned that “The ceasefire between Iran and the US is unequivocally a ceasefire on all fronts, including in Lebanon,” and said its violation on one front is a violation across all fronts.
Trump insisted negotiations were ongoing and posted that “Talks are continuing, at a rapid pace, with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” while NBC News reported that Trump said he was not informed of the decision to suspend negotiations ahead of time but that “I think it’s fine if they’re done talking.”
In Lebanon, the Lebanese Embassy in Washington said Hezbollah had accepted a U.S. proposal for a ceasefire in which strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs would cease in exchange for Hezbollah refraining from attacks on Israel, while Netanyahu said Israel would strike “terrorist targets in Beirut” if Hezbollah did not stop attacking cities and civilians.
The Washington Post reported Defense Minister Israel Katz said the Israel Defense Forces “had refrained from powerful strikes in the capital, “except for targeted assassinations,” following a U.S. request, and warned that it would strike Dahiyeh if Israel’s northern communities were targeted.
Threats of “Other Fronts”
As talks appeared to stall, Iran threatened to expand its blockade to the Bab El Mandeb Strait if Israel resumed strikes on Beirut, and the Daily Star reported that Iran threatened on Monday to expand its blockade to the Bab El Mandeb Strait, another chokepoint at the mouth of the Red Sea.
“Iranian officials have warned that Israel’s escalating attacks on Lebanon and ongoing hostilities in Gaza threaten to derail the ongoing ceasefire negotiations with the United States which continue to drag on”
The Hill reported Iran accused the Trump administration of ceasefire violations and said it would move to close the Strait of Hormuz and stop exchanging messages with the U.S. through intermediaries, citing Tasnim’s claim that the ceasefire “has now been violated on all fronts.”
CBS News reported a senior Iranian military officer said Tuesday that a resumption of hostilities with the United States was inevitable, quoting Mohammad Jafar Assadi: “Without surrender, war is inevitable.”
In parallel, the Guardian said Iran indicated it would suspend peace talks with the US in protest against Israel’s offensive in Lebanon, quoting Araghchi that “Its violation on one front is a violation of the ceasefire on all fronts,” while Trump told NBC News he thought going silent would be “very good” and that the U.S. would “keep the blockade.”
The stakes extended to maritime and regional security as the Daily Star said the Strait of Hormuz was largely shut, while CNN reported Trump said talks were continuing at a “rapid pace” after the regime threatened “other fronts” in the war, and the Hill described the U.S. blockade as initiated to block Iranian ships and ships carrying Iranian oil from transiting the narrow maritime passageway.
