Al Jazeera: Tehran has not closed the door to a deal with Washington

The American television channel NBC News, citing Iranian state media, reported that Tehran suspended the exchange of messages with Washington through intermediaries due to Israeli strikes on Lebanon and Gaza. However, US President Donald Trump insists that the negotiation process continues; according to him, a deal with Iran is possible as early as “next week.”

The Iranian agency Tasnim wrote about the decision of the Iranian negotiating team to stop the indirect exchange of messages with the United States. The Iranian side has threatened to completely block the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb if Israeli attacks in Lebanon continue.

Tehran demands that Lebanon be included in the general formula for ending the war. Jerusalem continues to insist on the need to continue fighting against Hezbollah to ensure the safety of the residents of northern Israel.

In Washington, the position of the Israeli leadership, judging by the publications of a number of American media, causes irritation. Axios reported on a tense telephone conversation between US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. According to the publication, Trump sharply reprimanded Netanyahu over the escalation of Israeli actions in Lebanon and stopped the Israeli plan to strike Hezbollah targets in Beirut. According to Axios, Hezbollah, through Lebanese intermediaries, expressed its readiness to mutually cease attacks with Israel, provided that Israel also stops attacks.

The Qatari TV channel Al Jazeera reports that the Iranian leadership has not closed the door to a deal with the United States, but different groups within the regime have different views on the compromise. Military and ultra-conservative circles insist that any form of “surrender” is unacceptable, and among the conditions they name an end to the war on all fronts, the lifting of sanctions, the release of frozen funds, compensation for damage and recognition of Iranian control over the security of the Strait of Hormuz.

A more pragmatic line, according to Al Jazeera, is represented by President Masoud Pezeshkian, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and Chairman of Parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. They support a negotiated solution if it is presented as protecting Iran’s interests rather than as a concession to the United States. At the same time, Ghalibaf, according to the Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Mayadeen TV channel, told Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri that an agreement between Iran and the United States should include a cessation of attacks on all fronts, “especially in Lebanon.”

The prospects for an agreement remain uncertain. Against this background, the representative of the Iranian operational command Khatam al-Anbiya, Mohammad Jafar Asadi, said that “there will be no surrender” and that there may be a new war ahead, since the United States is demanding complete surrender from Iran.