Iranian state media reports peace talks with US suspended but Trump insists they continue at 'rapid pace'

Iranian state media is reporting that the country's government has halted negotiations with the United States over an end to the war in the Middle East, in protest over Israel's conduct in Lebanon.

On Monday, local time, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced he had ordered strikes on Dahiyeh, in Beirut's southern suburbs, long considered a stronghold for the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah.

Those strikes have yet to begin, but the threat has forced many to flee the area, making Beirut's usually heavy traffic even more congested.

Shortly after Mr Netanyahu's announcement, however, US President Donald Trump announced there would be "no troops going to Beirut" after a conversation with the Israeli prime minister.

In a social media post, Mr Trump said he spoke to Mr Netanyahu and representatives from Hezbollah and that both parties had agreed to stop their attacks.

"I had a very productive call with Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, of Israel, and there will be no Troops going to Beirut, and any Troops that are on their way have already been turned back," he wrote on his Truth Social account.

"Likewise, through highly placed Representatives, I 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."

The Lebanese presidency, citing the Lebanese embassy in the US, said Hezbollah has agreed to the US proposal on the mutual cessation of attacks that would expand to all Lebanese territory.

Following Mr Trump's comments, Mr Netanyahu said he told the US president the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) would continue to operate as planned in southern Lebanon.

"I spoke with President Trump this evening and told him if Hezbollah does not stop attacking our cities and citizens, Israel will attack terror targets in Beirut," he said in a press conference.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Esmail Qaani said the Israeli operations in Lebanon and Gaza would lead the resistance axis to "equate the traffic situation of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait with the Strait of Hormuz".

The Bab el-Mandeb Strait is another vital shipping route for oil tankers and cargo ships to Europe and Asia.

The US president's social media post also said the talks with Iran were continuing at a "rapid pace".

Earlier, he had told the US ABC outlet that he thought there would be a deal with Iran to extend the ceasefire and reopen the strait "over the next week".

End of fighting in Lebanon a precondition of any deal to end war

The Tasnim news agency, often described as a semi-official outlet with ties to the IRGC, is reporting that Iran has stopped talks and the exchange of messages through a mediator.

That is likely referring to the role Pakistan has been playing in trying to broker a peace agreement.

Tasnim said Iran viewed an end to fighting in Lebanon as a precondition for any deal to end the broader regional war, now in its third month.

Soon after the report, the IDF Arabic spokesperson issued a warning on X that strikes would be imminent if Hezbollah continued attacking Israeli communities.

"The State of Israel is not fighting the Lebanese people, but rather the terrorist organisation Hezbollah," Avichay Adraee posted.

The Tasnim report about pausing peace negotiations followed comments from the spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Esmaeil Baghaei, earlier in the day that Israel was trying to undermine peace talks.

"An obvious reason for the escalation in the atrocities by the Zionist regime over recent days in Lebanon is to destroy even the slightest possibility for the ongoing diplomatic processes to lead to improvements in the situation," he said in Tehran.

"And again, the US is responsible for this. We can't consider the US and the Zionist regime as two separate agents.

"A ceasefire in Lebanon is an inseparable part of any ceasefire and any final agreement to end the war."

It echoed sentiments from Iran's top negotiator, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, on social media.

"The [US] naval blockade and escalation of war crimes in Lebanon by the genocidal Zionist regime are clear evidence of US noncompliance with the ceasefire," he posted on X.

"Every choice has a price, and the bill comes due. It will all fall into place."

Mr Trump said he had not heard from Iran that it was suspending talks with the US, but suggested there had been too much talking.

"I think we've been talking too much if you want to know the truth," Mr Trump said in an interview with NBC News.

"I think going silent would be very good, and that could be for a long time."

Israel intensifies operation in Lebanon

Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has intensified in recent days, with deadly Israeli strikes on several cities and towns in southern Lebanon and an expansion of its ground invasion.

Those attacks continued on Monday, with fresh evacuation warnings issued by the IDF. Lebanese authorities and the general population view them as forced displacement orders.

On Sunday, Israeli forces seized the 900-year-old Beaufort Castle, marking the deepest invasion of Lebanese territory in more than a quarter of a century.

In return, Hezbollah has launched volleys of rockets and drones at communities in northern Israel.

Warning sirens rang out in many border villages as threats were detected by Israel's air defence systems.

"There will not be a situation in which Hezbollah attacks our cities and our citizens, and its terrorist headquarters in Beirut, in Dahiyeh, remains out of bounds," Mr Netanyahu said in a video statement on Monday.

"We are continuing to deepen our operational activity on the ground in southern Lebanon and are eliminating Hezbollah strongholds.

"Hezbollah is on the run. We are determined to restore security to the residents of the north, just as we did for the residents of the south."

Rubio urges de-escalation

When the US and Iran agreed to a ceasefire in their conflict in early April, there were immediate differing views on whether the deal also covered Lebanon.

Hezbollah had opened fire on Israel in solidarity with its backers in Tehran in March, prompting accusations from the Lebanese government that it had dragged the country into a war it had no stake in.

Iran and the mediating Pakistan had insisted that the broader ceasefire deal would cover Lebanon. But Israel rejected that, and was backed by the US, effectively treating it as a separate war, regardless of how it started.

Weeks later, Mr Trump announced a ceasefire had been reached in Lebanon too, as his administration hosted talks between the Israeli and Lebanese governments.

Hezbollah has not been part of the negotiations and has criticised the Lebanese state for engaging in the process, even going so far as to call for its supporters to overthrow the government.

The truce itself had been criticised as giving Israel too much flexibility to launch strikes whenever it saw fit, leading to claims it was a ceasefire in name only.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had spoken to senior Israeli and Lebanese officials over the weekend to encourage them to de-escalate, before the developments on Monday.

It followed multiple reports in the Israeli press over the weekend that the IDF was growing increasingly frustrated about not being approved to attack Dahiyeh.

Senior members of Mr Netanyahu's coalition cabinet, including far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, had also publicly demanded strikes on the Lebanese capital.