(AFP) – Iran’s chief negotiator said Sunday that Tehran would not agree to any deal with the United States unless it fully secures Iranian rights, as reports emerged that Washington had sent a tougher peace proposal back to Iran. Any tweaks to the proposal could further delay an agreement to formally end the Middle East war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz after weeks of fraught negotiations marked by sharp rhetoric and occasional flare-ups of violence.
The New York Times and Axios reported on Saturday that Trump had sent back a new framework to be considered by Iran with “tougher” terms, though details remain unclear. “We will not approve any agreement until we are certain that the rights of the Iranian people have been upheld,” Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said, in a video broadcast on state television. Trump has said his priorities include stopping Iran from any nuclear weapon development and re-opening the blockaded Hormuz shipping lane. “The one guarantee that I have to have is that there will be no nuclear weapons. They’ve agreed to that, and it was very interesting,” he told his daughter-in-law Lara Trump in an interview broadcast on her Fox News program on Saturday night.
But Tehran has previously cast doubt on Trump’s assertions and the sides remain far apart on key issues. Iran has said it needs the release of $12 billion in frozen assets before engaging in substantive talks on its nuclear program, dismissing earlier Trump comments that its enriched uranium stockpile would be destroyed as “baseless,” according to Iranian media. Tehran has also insisted that Lebanon be included in any deal, despite ongoing fighting, with Beirut accusing Israel of a “scorched-earth policy” as it expands operations against Iran-backed Hezbollah.
After previously signalling a deal was close, Trump struck a less urgent tone, hinting at renewed military action in the Fox interview. “I’m in no hurry,” he said. “If we don’t get what we want, we’re going to end in a different way.” That echoed remarks by Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth who said at a defense summit in Asia on Saturday that Washington was “more than capable” of restarting the war if needed.
Though daily strikes throughout Iran and the Gulf halted after Tehran and Washington struck a temporary ceasefire in April and talks mediated by Pakistan, sporadic fighting has continued. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards had shot down a US military drone “about to enter Iranian territorial waters,” Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB reported, though Washington has not confirmed the incident. Earlier this week, the worst fighting since the ceasefire erupted when US forces struck the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, prompting retaliatory fire from Iran.
Nevertheless, diplomacy has continued with Trump under pressure to secure a deal that would lift competing US and Iranian blockades around the Strait of Hormuz that have strangled a vital route for global oil supplies. After Trump said Iran would charge “no tolls” on ships passing through the strait under any deal, Iranian news agency Fars cited sources saying “no such clause” existed. Iran’s ISNA news agency on Saturday quoted lawmaker Alireza Salimi as saying a plan “to implement Iran’s management and sovereignty” over the strait would soon go before parliament.
– Lebanon front –
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Sunday that troops had also crossed the Litani river and raised the Israeli flag over the strategic medieval fortress of Beaufort in southern Lebanon. Smoke billowed from the surrounding area as the invading army’s banner was seen by AFP above the castle, which Israel famously used as a base during their previous two-decade-long occupation.
The push to Beaufort came as the Israeli military issued a sweeping evacuation order to areas south of the Zahrani River, north of the Litani and around 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the border, warning that it was targeting Hezbollah. The military said Sunday that one soldier was killed the previous day in a Hezbollah drone strike. Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has accused Israel of pursuing a “scorched-earth policy and collective punishment,” and called for “a swift and real ceasefire.”
Israel confirmed it was expanding its ground offensive in a statement released early on Sunday, saying “a significant number” of its forces were operating against Hezbollah beyond the Litani river. A truce between Israel and Hezbollah formally began on April 17 but it has never been observed, with both sides accusing each other of violating it. In early March, Tehran-backed Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s supreme leader in US-Israeli strikes, prompting Israel to carry out near-daily air raids in Lebanon and launch a ground invasion. Israel and Lebanon began direct talks in April, with a fourth round expected in the coming week.
burs-rh/dc – AFP teams in Washington, Tehran, Beirut, Jerusalem
© 2024 AFP
