US President Donald Trump said that a peace deal with Iran was still on track to be signed within hours, despite an Israeli strike on Beirut that he said had delayed the plan.
Trump told the news outlet Axios: “It shook it up. It delayed the signing by a few hours. It was supposed to be now. Now it is scheduled for a few hours from now.”
Trump fumed at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the attack on Beirut, saying: “It is so bad – I couldn’t believe it. An hour before we are supposed to sign the deal.”
Tehran has repeatedly insisted that any agreement to halt the war must include the parallel conflict in Lebanon, where Israel has been pursuing a campaign against the Iran-backed movement Hezbollah.
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But after days of momentum building towards a deal, a strike in Beirut’s southern suburbs – a Hezbollah stronghold – prompted Iran’s chief negotiator to question the point of continuing peace talks.
The attack “showed that the United States either lacks the will to implement its commitments or lacks the ability to do so”, Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on X.
He added: “If you do not have the will or the ability to fulfil your commitments, then there is no point in talking about continuing down this path.”
Trump – who over weeks of negotiations has repeatedly declared an accord with Iran was all but concluded – said after the attack that a deal was still at hand, urging those involved not to “blow it”.
He posted on social media: “We are very close to a deal that will bring peace to the region, including to Lebanon, and all sides should stand down.
“This morning’s attack on Beirut should not have happened, particularly on a special day.”
Trump’s allusion to a “special day” might have been a reference to his hopes of signing the deal on Sunday, his 80th birthday.
The last time Israel hit the Beirut suburbs, it sparked one of the strongest jolts yet to an April ceasefire, with Iran firing off a retaliatory missile barrage and Israel responding with strikes.
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Iranian Brigadier General Mohammad Jafar Asadi said that the latest Israeli attack “will not go unanswered”.
Israel’s military, meanwhile, said it was “preparing for potential fire toward the territory of the state of Israel in the coming hours”.
– AFP
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