Iran has no plans for second spherical of talks with the US, overseas ministry spokesperson says
Esmail Baghaei, Iran’s overseas ministry spokesperson, has been quoted by Al Jazeera as having mentioned that Iran has no plans for a brand new spherical of talks with the US, saying Washington has violated the settlement from its implementation.
The spokesperson additionally mentioned Tehran can’t neglect US assaults on Iran throughout earlier diplomatic talks as he insisted that Iran will proceed defending its nationwide pursuits.
As a reminder, the US-Israeli war on Iran, which started on 28 February, and the 12-day war final yr each had been launched when Iran and the US had been in talks over Iran’s nuclear programme.
Baghaei additionally mentioned the US proposals have been “unserious” and its calls for “unrealistic” and mentioned Tehran doesn’t imagine in ultimatums.
Donald Trump has threatened to destroy civilian infrastructure in Iran if Tehran doesn’t settle for the phrases of the deal the US is laying out.
He instructed Fox News on Sunday that the deal the US is providing, which entails reopening the strait of Hormuz and making certain Iran doesn’t have enriched uranium, was a “very fair and reasonable deal” and except Iran accepts, he vowed to knock out “every single Power Plant” and “every single Bridge”. Iran has refused to present into what it describes as “maximalist” calls for from the US.
Key occasions
Jennifer Rankin and Sam Jones
Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez – who has been among the most vocal European critics of Israel’s war in Gaza – has mentioned he’ll ask the European Union to finish its affiliation settlement with Israel on Tuesday.
“The time has come for the EU to break its association agreement with Israel,” Sánchez mentioned on Sunday. “We have nothing against the people of Israel – quite the contrary. But a government that breaks international law – and thus breaks the values and principles of the EU – cannot be our partner.”
The Israeli authorities has hit again at Sánchez, accusing him of hypocrisy and double requirements.
“We won’t accept a hypocritical lesson from someone who has a relationship with totalitarian regimes that violate human rights, such as Erdoğan’s Turkey and Maduro’s Venezuela,” Israel’s overseas minister, Gideon Sa’ar, posted on X, alongside {a photograph} that apparently confirmed a poster of Sánchez’s face and his criticisms of Israel’s war on Iran on an Iranian missile.
In a reference to the poster, Sa’ar mentioned the Spanish authorities had obtained thanks “from Iran’s brutal regime and terrorist organisation”, including that it has “dedicated itself to spreading antisemitism”.
He then threw Sánchez’s phrases again at him: “We have nothing against the citizens of Spain – quite the contrary – but we do against the double standard of the government of [Pedro Sánchez].”
The web blackout in Iran has entered its 52nd day, in response to web monitoring group NetBlocks. It said in a social media post:
Iran’s web shutdown has entered its 52nd day after 1224 hours. Metrics present that most people stay minimize off from worldwide networks, whereas authorities proceed efforts to segregate customers and supply selective entry to favored teams.
Those with out entry to Starlink or other ways to speak – which are sometimes costly – are minimize off, not solely from the skin world however the blackout additionally severely curtails Iranian’s potential to speak with one another, making mobilisation, for instance, way more troublesome.
A choose variety of officers are nonetheless ready to make use of the web and publish frequently on social media in regards to the US-Israeli war on Iran. There was an earlier internet shutdown in January throughout nationwide protests, which helped obscure extreme violence against Iran’s population.
China’s overseas ministry spokesperson, Guo Jiakun, has mentioned Beijing is worried over the “forcible interception” of the Iranian-flagged Touska ship by US forces that occurred over the weekend.
“We express concern over the US side’s forcible interception of the relevant vessel,” Jiakun instructed reporters when requested in regards to the seizure.
The US navy mentioned it had fired on the cargo ship headed in direction of Iran’s Bandar Abbas port on Sunday after a six-hour standoff, disabling its engines.
Iran’s navy mentioned the ship had been travelling from China and accused the US of “armed piracy”. They mentioned they had been able to confront US forces over the “blatant aggression”, however had been constrained by the presence of crew members’ households on board.
Donald Trump mentioned the ship was under US treasury sanctions due to “prior history of illegal activity”. The ship is on the treasury department’s list of sanctioned vessels.
Iran formally closed the strait of Hormuz on 4 March in response to US-Israeli airstrikes on the nation which killed its former supreme chief, and declared it back open on Friday after a 10-day ceasefire deal was agreed between Israel and Lebanon. Trump mentioned on Friday that the naval blockade of Iranian ports would proceed till a deal was reached.
Here is an extract from some useful analysis by the Guardian’s diplomatic editor, Patrick Wintour, through which he identifies key sticking factors within the negotiations with Iran up to now:
Iran’s three calls for earlier than getting into one other spherical of talks had been a ceasefire in Lebanon, an finish to the US blockade on Iranian ports and progress on Iranian asset releases.
Iran and the mediators in Pakistan noticed this as a standard diplomatic step-by-step reciprocal course of whereby one confidence-building measure from one aspect would result in one other on the opposite aspect.
As a end result, the imposition on Israel of the two-week ceasefire in Lebanon by Trump was regarded as important by Iran, and was attributable to result in a reciprocal partial lifting of the Iranian chokehold on the strait of Hormuz – a step introduced considerably clumsily by the Iranian overseas minister, Abbas Araghchi, in a tweet on Friday morning. In return it was anticipated that Trump would elevate the US blockade of Iranian ports, and the momentum surrounding the virtuous circle would construct.
But in a collection of tweets on Friday Trump saved the blockade in place, claimed Iran had fully lifted the restrictions on tanker visitors within the strait, and for good measure mentioned Iran had agreed at hand over Iran’s stockpile of extremely enriched uranium to the US for secure conserving.
In brief, he seemed that Iran had surrendered. The backlash that adopted in Tehran on Friday was inevitable.
We can deliver you some extra remark from the Iranian overseas ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei, who has been talking at a weekly press briefing. “While claiming diplomacy and readiness for negotiations, the US is carrying out behaviours that do not in any way indicate seriousness in pursuing a diplomatic process,” he mentioned.
Baghaei mentioned a US assault on an Iranian cargo ship this morning, the US naval blockade on Iranian ports and delays in implementing a ceasefire in Lebanon had been all “clear violations of the ceasefire”.
The US is anticipated to ship a delegation to Pakistan led by vice-president JD Vance for talks deliberate for Monday night – however these now look unlikely to occur, a minimum of within the kind they had been scheduled.
Iran would make “an appropriate decision regarding the continuation of the negotiation process”, Baghaei added. Iranian officers seem suspicious that Donald Trump’s speaking up of a potential deal might be cowl for a shock assault.
Iran has no plans for second spherical of talks with the US, overseas ministry spokesperson says
Esmail Baghaei, Iran’s overseas ministry spokesperson, has been quoted by Al Jazeera as having mentioned that Iran has no plans for a brand new spherical of talks with the US, saying Washington has violated the settlement from its implementation.
The spokesperson additionally mentioned Tehran can’t neglect US assaults on Iran throughout earlier diplomatic talks as he insisted that Iran will proceed defending its nationwide pursuits.
As a reminder, the US-Israeli war on Iran, which started on 28 February, and the 12-day war final yr each had been launched when Iran and the US had been in talks over Iran’s nuclear programme.
Baghaei additionally mentioned the US proposals have been “unserious” and its calls for “unrealistic” and mentioned Tehran doesn’t imagine in ultimatums.
Donald Trump has threatened to destroy civilian infrastructure in Iran if Tehran doesn’t settle for the phrases of the deal the US is laying out.
He instructed Fox News on Sunday that the deal the US is providing, which entails reopening the strait of Hormuz and making certain Iran doesn’t have enriched uranium, was a “very fair and reasonable deal” and except Iran accepts, he vowed to knock out “every single Power Plant” and “every single Bridge”. Iran has refused to present into what it describes as “maximalist” calls for from the US.
Thousands of Lebanese individuals returned to their villages in southern Lebanon on Friday within the hours after the shaky 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon took impact.
In this powerful piece, my colleagues report on the bittersweet feelings they felt as many returnees discovered their properties destroyed or broken past habitation by Israeli assaults which persevered regardless of the truce:
Pezeshkian says that ‘each rational and diplomatic path must be used to cut back tensions’
Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian tried to mood down tensions after escalations over the weekend between the US and Iran.
“War is not in anyone’s interest, and while resisting threats, every rational and diplomatic path should be used to reduce tensions”, the state-affiliated IRNA reported him saying.
Still, Iran has not dedicated to becoming a member of US negotiators for one other spherical of talks in Pakistan, and the president mentioned “distrust of the enemy and vigilance in interactions are an undeniable necessity.”
The US and Iran had been in the course of negotiations when Israel and US launched a navy assault on Iran in February.
On Sunday, the US president, Donald Trump,. accused Iran of firing on ships passing via the strait of Hormuz in what he claimed was in violation of the ceasefire settlement. A spokesperson for Iran’s overseas ministry, nevertheless, mentioned it was Washington’s blockade of the waterway that was a violation of the settlement.
Iranian negotiators have reportedly mentioned that no additional talks will happen except the US ended its blockade of Iranian ports.
IDF demolishing properties in Lebanon, paying bulldozers based mostly on what number of constructing are destroyed, stories say
The IDF has continued to demolish properties and different buildings together with academic establishments in villages in southern Lebanon, even after the ceasefire agreed between the international locations final week.
The military has employed civilian contractors to destroy properties, with some operators paid a every day fee whereas others are paid based mostly on the number of buildings they destroy, in response to Haaretz. As many as 20 excavators are working operations in a single village, the Israeli newspaper reported based mostly on conversations with military commanders.
Academics have described the operations as domicide, a technique that’s used to systematically destroy and harm civilian housing to render complete areas uninhabitable.
Buildings in villages, together with academic establishments, properties and others are destroyed after receiving permission, in a coverage the IDF refers to as the “money plow”, in response to the newspaper.
Israel Katz, the nation’s defence minister, previously said that “all houses in villages near the border in Lebanon will be demolished in accordance with the Rafah and Beit Hanoun models in Gaza” and mentioned that 600,000 residents of southern Lebanon won’t be allowed to return to their properties till Israelis dwelling on the northern border are secure. Academics have questioned whether or not many will ever have the ability to return – or whether or not their properties will nonetheless exist.
The IDF didn’t give any remark to Haaretz. On Sunday, the pressure mentioned it had verified a viral picture that confirmed a IDF soldier destroying a statue of Jesus with a hammer within the Christian city of Debel. An official account distanced itself from the solider and mentioned that “the IDF is operating to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure established by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon”.
Interim abstract
In case you’re simply becoming a member of us, right here’s immediately’s important developments. It is 9.30am in Tehran, 9am in Jerusalem, 11am in Islamabad and 2am in Washington DC.
Iranian state media reported that Tehran was not planning to participate in peace talks with the US, hours after Trump mentioned he was dispatching negotiators to Islamabad for the scheduled Monday assembly. “There are currently no plans to participate in the next round of Iran-US talks,” state broadcaster IRIB mentioned, citing Iranian sources.
Donald Trump mentioned US negotiators will probably be in Pakistan on Monday, and he once more threatened to destroy its energy vegetation and bridges if no deal is reached. Trump didn’t say who would lead the delegation, however a White House official mentioned it was vice-president JD Vance.
Ratcheting up the stress, the US mentioned it had seized an Iranian cargo ship, the M/V Touska, that attempted to run its blockade. Iran has vowed to retaliate. Hours after the announcement, the US navy launched footage of incident, together with video of US Marines rappelling onto the vessel.
Despite all of the uncertainty, host Pakistan gave the impression to be getting ready for the US-Iran talks to proceed. Two big US C-17 cargo planes landed at an airbase on Sunday afternoon, carrying safety tools and automobiles in preparation for the US delegation’s arrival, two Pakistani safety sources mentioned. Barbed wire was rolled out close to the Serena Hotel, the place final week’s talks had been held, and the resort has instructed all visitors to depart.
Oil costs surged after Iran closed the strait of Hormuz on the weekend, only a day after reopening it. Brent crude climbed to $95.64 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate elevated to $87.90 per barrel. However, equities throughout Asia rose in early buying and selling on Monday.
The Israeli military has confirmed a picture circulating on social media that exhibits a soldier in Lebanon hitting a statue of Jesus Christ is genuine. The picture seems to point out an Israeli soldier utilizing a sledgehammer to strike the top of a statue of a crucified Jesus that had fallen off of a cross.
The Israel military mentioned it considered the incident with “great severity”, including that the “soldier’s conduct is wholly inconsistent with the values expected of its troops”.
Iran will resume worldwide flights on Monday from Mashhad airport within the nation’s north-east, its civil aviation authority mentioned.
Iran will resume worldwide flights on Monday from Mashhad airport within the nation’s north-east, its civil aviation authority mentioned.
IDF warns Lebanese residents to not cross specified line
The Israeli navy has simply now warned residents in southern Lebanon to not transfer south of a specified line of villages or method areas close to the Litani River, saying its forces stay deployed within the space throughout a ceasefire attributable to what it described as continued Hezbollah exercise.
In a press release, navy spokesperson Avichay Adraee additionally urged civilians to not return to a number of border villages till additional discover, citing safety dangers.
Further to this, the Israeli navy on Sunday printed for the primary time a map of its new deployment line inside Lebanon, bringing dozens of principally deserted Lebanese villages under its management. You can see that map beneath:
Stretching east to west, the deployment line on the map runs 5-10km (about 3-6 miles) deep from the border into Lebanese territory, the place Israel has mentioned it plans to create a so-called buffer zone.
Israeli forces have destroyed Lebanese villages within the space, saying their purpose is to guard northern Israeli cities from Hezbollah assaults. It has created buffer zones in Syria and in Gaza, the place it controls greater than half the enclave.
Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, mentioned his navy will use “full force” in Lebanon – even through the ongoing ceasefire – ought to Israeli troops face any risk from Hezbollah.
Lebanon’s navy mentioned in the meantime it has reopened a street and bridge between the town of Nabatieh and Khardali that was broken by Israeli strikes within the south.
Meanwhile, French president Emmanuel Macron will on Tuesday meet with Lebanese prime minister Nawaf Salam in Paris, his workplace introduced, a day after a French peacekeeper was killed in Lebanon.
Donald Trump’s resolution to ship US officers to Islamabad for additional talks on Monday with Iran simply 24 hours after Iran once again closed the strait of Hormuz will sign to Tehran that the strategic waterway stays a bargaining asset past parallel, writes Patrick Wintour, the Guardian’s diplomatic editor.
In his analysis, Wintour says that with the strait in impact closed, Trump has clearly examined his array of dangerous choices and determined to attempt diplomacy once more.
Iran’s Mizan information outlet is reporting that Iran has executed two people accused of involvement in a “spy network linked to Israel”.
Mizan claimed the 2 males had been accused of belonging to a spy community linked to Mossad and had obtained coaching overseas, together with in Iraq’s Kurdistan area, Reuters reported.
They had been convicted on fees together with “enmity against God” and cooperation with hostile teams, and their loss of life sentences had been upheld by the supreme court docket earlier than being carried out, Mizan reported.
