President Donald Trump said he had not been told Iran suspended talks with Washington, after Iranian state-linked media reported Tehran halted indirect exchanges over attacks in Lebanon.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
President Donald Trump said Monday that Iran has not informed the White House of any decision to suspend negotiations with the United States, after Iranian media reported Tehran had paused indirect talks in response to attacks in Lebanon.
The report came as Washington continues efforts to secure an agreement extending the ceasefire reached in early April and ending a conflict that has stretched for three months. Iran’s Tasnim News Agency reported that Tehran’s negotiating team had stopped exchanging messages with Washington through mediators.
Trump dismissed the reported suspension as part of Tehran’s bargaining strategy.
“It’s an appropriate thing to say, because they’re better negotiators than they are fighters,” Trump said in a brief phone call with NBC News. “But they haven’t informed us of that.”
The president said the United States would continue applying pressure but suggested the reported halt in talks did not mean Washington would immediately broaden military action.
“It doesn’t mean we’re going to go and start dropping bombs all over there,” Trump said. “We’ll keep the blockade.”
Trump said Friday that he expected to decide soon whether to approve a proposed agreement intended to extend the existing ceasefire.
Tasnim also reported that Iran and the so-called Resistance Front, a network of Iranian-backed Shiite groups in Yemen, Lebanon and Iraq, have adopted a strategy focused on retaliating against Israel and its allies by threatening key maritime routes.
According to the report, the alliance is weighing steps that could disrupt traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, two major chokepoints for global energy and commercial shipping.
Any role for Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen could draw renewed attention to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the narrow passage connecting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden and serving as a gateway to the Suez Canal.
The Strait of Hormuz remains central to the broader standoff because of its importance to global energy markets and regional security. Trump’s comments indicate the U.S. blockade will remain in place while negotiations continue.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi warned that fighting in Lebanon could put the wider ceasefire arrangement at risk.
“Violation on one front is a violation of the ceasefire on all fronts. The U.S. and Israel are responsible for the consequences of any violation,” Araqchi wrote on X.
The reported suspension adds another obstacle to the diplomatic effort, though Trump said the U.S. had not received formal notice from Tehran and would continue its current strategy.
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