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In a fast-moving chain of events on Monday, US President Donald Trump said no Israeli troops will be “going to Beirut, and any troops that are on their way, have already been turned back” after talking to both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hezbollah.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said he had “a very good call with Hezbollah, and they agreed that all shooting will stop — that Israel will not attack them, and they will not attack Israel”.
Trump further assuaged anxieties by stating that negotiations with Tehran have continued “at a rapid pace” in a separate post on his platform.
Trump’s unusually pacifying messages came shortly after Iran’s IRGC-linked Tasnim news agency reported that Tehran decided to stop exchanging messages with the US on a peace deal following Israel’s widespread offensive in Lebanon.
The report also announced Iran’s “resolve to completely block the Strait of Hormuz” and to expand its fighting fronts.
In a diametrically opposite tone to his usual bluster, Trump appeared to downplay Iran’s statement by telling US media that Tehran did not inform Washington of the move.
“I don’t care if they’re over, honestly. I really don’t care. I couldn’t care less,” Trump said, adding that he thought “the oil will be dropping like a rock in the very near distance,” addressing a sudden oil market spike following the Iranian news agency report.
The US president kept the door open to continuing the peace negotiations by saying that “it doesn’t mean we’re going to go and start dropping bombs all over there. We’ll keep the blockade.”
Iran’s foreign ministry, a civilian office, released a statement at around the same time on Monday, blaming the US for not restraining Israel from its Lebanese offensive.
Despite Washington’s efforts to “compel” Israel to stop its offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon, the ministry said, “the direct responsibility of the United States — both for violations of the ceasefire against Iran and for ceasefire violations committed by the Israeli regime against Lebanon — is evident.”
“The United States bears responsibility for the consequences and repercussions of this situation,” it added.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran, utilising all its capabilities and capacities and acting on the basis of its inherent right to self-defence, will defend its interests wherever it deems necessary,” the statement said.
Additionally, two Iranian generals were quoted by Iranian media as saying that Tehran “is prepared to undertake defensive operations through game-changing measures, the opening of new fronts, and the preservation of the Strait of Hormuz equation.”
An adviser to Iran’s supreme leader and IRGC commander Mohsen Rezaei announced on a post on X that “we will not allow the continuation of the maritime blockade, and the escalation of tensions in Lebanon will not be tolerated either.”
“The patience of the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran has its limits,” Rezaei said.