Iran warns Israeli attacks in Lebanon and Gaza threaten US ceasefire talks

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.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi suggested on Monday that the mounting Israeli invasion of Lebanon and its strikes on the country, alongside the continued US siege of Iranian ports, constitutes a violation of the ceasefire.

“The ceasefire between Iran and the US is unequivocally a ceasefire on all fronts, including in Lebanon,” Araghchi said in a social media post. “Its violation on one front is a violation of the ceasefire on all fronts. The US and Israel are responsible for the consequences of any violation.”

Iran’s chief negotiator and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf made the same point

“The naval blockade and escalation of war crimes in Lebanon by the genocidal Zionist regime are clear evidence of US noncompliance with the ceasefire,” he wrote on social media.

“Every choice has a price, and the bill comes due. It will all fall into place,” he added.

Their comments came as Israel deepens its invasion of south Lebanon and threatens to resume large scale attacks in Beirut.

Not long after the comments emerged, the Israeli military issued a forced displacement order for residents of the southern Beirut suburbs of Dahiye and strikes were ordered. The previous day Israeli ground forces reached their deepest point in Lebanon in 26 years.

Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Monday afternoon that Tehran is also demanding a halt to Israeli military attacks in Gaza.

The report said that Iranian officials have suspended exchanges of texts through a mediator with US counterparts because of continuing hostilities.

“The immediate cessation of the Zionist regime’s aggressive and brutal army operations in Gaza and Lebanon and the necessity of the regime’s complete withdrawal from the occupied areas in Lebanon have been emphasised by Iranian officials and negotiators, and there will be no talks until Iran and the resistance’s views on this matter are met,” the news agency reported.

While the report from Tasnim, which is widely believed to be linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), has not been publicly confirmed by the Iranian government, it could signal a message from Tehran.

The US has been trying to separate the war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon from the broader conflict with Iran. But Tehran has insisted that Lebanon must be included in any future deal.