President Donald Trump said that Iran did not inform the U.S. it was suspending talks but claimed the development is “fine” with him.
Speaking to NBC News, Trump said “I think it’s fine if they’re done talking.” “It’s an appropriate thing to say, because they’re better negotiators than they are fighters,” he added.
Trump went on to say that the scenario “doesn’t mean we’re going to go and start dropping bombs all over there” but the U.S. will maintain its naval blockade of Iranian ports, preventing the country from exporting oil.
“If they don’t want to talk, that’s okay with me. I think it’s fine. I don’t particularly want to talk either. We talk too much.” Trump added.
Iranian media said on Monday that authorities halted talks with the U.S. over Israel’s escalation in Lebanon and would activate its proxies to block the Strait of Hormuz and activate other fronts.
Tasnim news agency said Tehran and the “Resistance Front,” including its allies in Yemen, Lebanon and Iraq will also seek to block the Bab El Mandeb Strait to “punish” Israel and its allies.
Bab El Mandeb is located off the coast of Yemen and is another key waterway in the Middle East which controls sea traffic toward the Suez Canal in Egypt.
“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 emphasized by Iranian officials and negotiators, and there will be no talks until Iran and the resistance’s views on this matter are met,” Tasnim said, according to the Times of Israel.
While the Iranian government has not officially confirmed the decision, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a social media publication that the “ceasefire between Iran and the US is unequivocally a ceasefire on all fronts, including in Lebanon.”
“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,” he added.
The outlet noted that Israel had largely refrained from targeting Beirut, but announced on Monday it would resume escalations as Hezbollah continued launching missiles and drones against northern communities.
“Following the repeated violations of the ceasefire in Lebanon by the Hezbollah terror organization and the attacks against our cities and citizens, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz instructed the IDF to strike terror targets in the Dahiyeh quarter of Beirut,” the officials said in a statement.
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