Negotiations between Iran and the US have been paused for a few days, Iranian state media reported on Tuesday, after President Donald Trump claimed talks were progressing “at a rapid pace” despite a “glitch” over Lebanon.
The exchange of messages between Tehran and Washington to reach a deal aimed at ending the war stopped a few days ago, Iran's semi-official Fars news agency said, citing a source with knowledge of the matter.
It said the pause in talks was “a clear message about Lebanon”, without elaborating.
State media also reported Iran's draft proposal for an agreement was still being reviewed and had yet to be sent to mediators.
“The final text from Iran is still under discussion and no response has been sent yet,” the Mehr news agency reported, quoting a source close to the negotiating team. “The history of US breaches of trust has caused Iran to view the matter very strictly.”
The reports contradict Mr Trump's claim on Monday that talks with Iran were continuing “at a rapid pace” and he expected an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to be completed “over the next week”, after Israel and Hezbollah agreed to stop attacking each other in Lebanon.
He told ABC News that while there had been “a little glitch today”, he had “turned that one around very quickly”.
The war in Lebanon and the reopening of Hormuz have been key sticking points in negotiations between Iran and the US.
There were fears on Monday that Israel would resume strikes on Beirut, which had been largely spared since a US-brokered ceasefire was declared in April, after threatening to attack the capital's southern suburbs. Iran responded by threatening to abandon talks with the US and enter Hezbollah’s fight against Israel in Lebanon.
Mr Trump said he secured a pledge from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that his country's forces would refrain from pushing deeper into Lebanon. Hezbollah said it would halt attacks on Israel and its troops, the US President added.
“I had a conversation with Bibi [Benjamin] Netanyahu today, asking him not to go into a major raid of Beirut, Lebanon. He turned his troops around. Thank you Bibi,” Mr Trump said in a post on Truth Social late on Monday.
He said that he also “had a conversation” with representatives of Hezbollah's leadership, which the US has designated as a terrorist group. “They agreed to stop shooting at Israel and its soldiers. Likewise, Israel agreed to stop shooting at them. Let’s see how long that lasts – hopefully it will be for eternity,” he wrote.
Axios reported that Mr Trump had confronted Mr Netanyahu in an “expletive-laden” phone call, citing US officials and another source briefed on the call.
Mr Netanyahu said on X that he had told Mr Trump strikes on Beirut would go ahead if Hezbollah continued to attack “our cities and citizens”. The Israeli leader said military operations in southern Lebanon would continue regardless.
Senior officials in Tehran have framed Israel’s escalation in Lebanon as a red line that would affect the wider diplomatic track with Washington and explicitly linked the Lebanese front to talks over the strait.
Iran’s Parliamentary Speaker and chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said on X that he told Lebanon's Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri that if “the crimes of the Zionist regime in Lebanon continue, we will not only halt the dialogue process, but also stand firmly against them”.
Kuwait came under attack earlier on Monday as the US and Iran traded strikes, underscoring the fragility of efforts to extend a ceasefire and negotiate an end to the war. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it struck a US base after the American military said it hit two command-and-control sites in the strait.
Tehran's moves on Monday raised the stakes for Washington and affected its ability to back Israel without jeopardising a broader deal with Iran.
Israeli Prime Minister
Mr Netanyahu said on Tuesday that Iran had been significantly weakened.
“The price that Iran has already paid is very heavy. The foundations of this regime of terror in Iran have been cracked,” Mr Netanyahu said at a ceremony marking the departure of Mossad chief David Barnea. “It will never be what it was, and I tell you – it will eventually fall.”
The regional war began on February 28 with Israeli and US strikes on Iran. Tehran responded by firing thousands of missiles and drones at its Gulf Arab neighbours, while Hezbollah entered the fray shortly afterwards with attacks on Israel.
A fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran has been in place since April 8, although the two countries have repeatedly traded fire in and around the Strait of Hormuz.
Despite their rhetoric, neither Tehran nor Washington appears to want to resume all-out fighting. They have been engaged in weeks of back-channel negotiations aimed at securing an agreement on a permanent ceasefire.
The IRGC said it remained at its highest level of military readiness, and dismissed claims that its capabilities had been weakened.
