By Tom Ozimek
Contributing Writer
Iran signaled on Tuesday that indirect negotiations with the United States remain on track — but that their fate hangs in a delicate balance — after U.S. President Donald Trump announced he had helped secure a renewed ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, easing tensions that Tehran had warned could throw diplomacy into limbo.
The clarification came after conflicting reports emerged over the status of U.S.-Iran talks following a flare-up in fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group in Lebanon.
Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency, which is closely affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, reported on Monday that Tehran had suspended indirect contacts with Washington, including exchanges of messages through mediators, in response to Israeli military operations in Lebanon.
Iran’s official state news agency, IRNA, on Tuesday portrayed the issue differently, reporting that Iran had threatened to suspend message exchanges with the United States unless Israeli attacks in Lebanon stopped, rather than confirming that negotiations had already been halted.
Similarly, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, also signaled on Tuesday that U.S.-Iran talks were continuing — while warning they are in danger of collapsing.
Qalibaf said in a post on X that if Israeli forces continue to strike targets in Lebanon, Iran “will not only halt the path of negotiations, but we will also be in direct confrontation with the enemy,” signaling a possibility of renewed fighting.
The Tuesday clarification from IRNA, following the Monday Tasnim report, suggests Tehran may have used the prospect of freezing talks as leverage to pressure Washington to restrain Israel while leaving the diplomatic channel intact.
Trump Intervenes as Fighting Escalates
The conflicting reports over the talks came amid one of the most significant challenges to the fragile ceasefire.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Monday that they had ordered strikes on Hezbollah targets in Beirut’s southern suburbs, saying the attacks were a response to repeated Hezbollah violations of the ceasefire and attacks on Israeli cities and civilians.
Hezbollah fired rockets toward northern Israel, including areas near Haifa. Amid the escalation, Iranian officials said that continued Israeli military operations in Lebanon amounted to a ceasefire violation, hinting that further Israeli attacks could derail diplomacy.
During a morning press briefing hours before the Tasnim report was released, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said that Israel’s actions in Lebanon were calculated to “destroy any possibility … that diplomatic processes might somehow lead to an improvement in the situation.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a Monday post on X that the ceasefire between Iran and the United States “is considered, without any ambiguity, a comprehensive ceasefire on all fronts, including Lebanon.”
“Any violation of this ceasefire on any front is considered a violation of it on all fronts,” Araghchi said, adding that the United States and Israel would bear responsibility for any consequences resulting from truce violations.
As reports spread that Iran had either broken off the talks or threatened to do so, Trump moved quickly to de-escalate the crisis.
The U.S. president said in a Monday post on Truth Social that he held a “very productive” call with Netanyahu and that there would be no Israeli troop movement into Beirut. Trump also said that, through intermediaries, Hezbollah had agreed that “all shooting will stop.”
“Israel will not attack them, and they will not attack Israel,” Trump wrote.
In a separate post, Trump said negotiations with Tehran were continuing “at a rapid pace.”
The White House referred inquiries about the status of the talks to Trump’s public statements.
Trump also told CNBC in an interview on Monday that Iran had not informed Washington that negotiations were being suspended.
Earlier in the day, Trump said he believed Iran still “wants to make a deal,” and urged patience.
“Just sit back and relax,” Trump wrote in a post on social media. “It will all work out well in the end.”
Threats of Wider Escalation
Even as the immediate crisis appeared to ease after Trump’s intervention, the threat of escalation remains.
Netanyahu said in a Monday post on X that he told Trump during their call that Israel’s agreement not to attack Hezbollah in Beirut depends on whether the terrorist group holds up its end of the bargain.
“I spoke this evening with President Trump and told him that if Hezbollah does not stop attacking our cities and citizens, Israel will strike terror targets in Beirut. This position of ours remains unchanged,” Netanyahu said. “At the same time, the IDF will continue to operate as planned in southern Lebanon.”
Netanyahu recently ordered Israeli forces to expand ground operations in southern Lebanon and deepen Israel’s control over areas previously held by Hezbollah, with the Israeli prime minister citing the need to protect Israeli communities from attacks by the terrorist group.
Israeli security officials said that Hezbollah had expanded the geographic scope of its attacks, launching rockets and unmanned aerial vehicles toward northern Israeli cities that had previously escaped major attacks, including Safed and Tiberias.
The officials added that Hezbollah had dispersed some command centers into Beirut neighborhoods beyond its southern suburbs, and maintained underground weapons stockpiles and production facilities for rockets, drones and other military equipment throughout the city.
While the immediate threat of escalation has eased after Israel put its plan to strike targets in Beirut on pause, the possibility remains that the conflict could intensify.
IRGC Quds Force Commander Brig. Gen. Esmail Qa’ani warned that continued Israeli operations in Lebanon and Gaza could lead Iran-backed groups to activate additional fronts and make shipping conditions in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait resemble those in the Strait of Hormuz, according to IRNA, Iran’s official news agency.
Iran’s imposition of a control regime on shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has severely restricted the flow of crude and other critical goods, such as fertilizer, causing oil prices to surge and fueling fears of shortages that could cripple the world economy.
Ebrahim Azizi, the head of the national security commission of the Iranian parliament, warned of escalation if Israeli attacks in all parts of Lebanon are not halted.
“If the attacks against Lebanon do not stop completely, the consequences will be severe for the Zionist regime and U.S. forces in the region,” Azizi wrote in a post on X. “They are fully aware that this is not an empty threat, and we are prepared for a military response.”
