DUBAI, June 1 - Iran’s Tasnim news agency said on Monday that Tehran’s negotiating team has halted exchanges of messages with the United States routed through intermediaries, attributing the suspension to attacks in Lebanon as diplomatic efforts to end the three-month-old conflict continue.
Tasnim reported that Tehran, together with the so-called Resistance Front - a grouping it said includes Iran’s Shiite allies in Yemen, Lebanon and Iraq - has drawn up an agenda aimed at a full closure of the Strait of Hormuz and at the activation of other fronts, including the Bab El Mandeb Strait, as measures to "punish" Israel and countries supporting it.
The agency noted that if the Houthis in Yemen, who are described as Iran’s allies, open a new front in the campaign, one clear potential target would be the Bab El Mandeb Strait off Yemen’s coast. Tasnim described the Bab El Mandeb as a strategic shipping chokepoint and a narrow passage that controls seaborne traffic bound for the Suez Canal.
Quoting Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, the report said on X on Monday: "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," a remark the agency said referred to Israeli operations in Lebanon.
The article stated that the war launched by the U.S. and Israel on February 28 has killed thousands of people, mainly in Iran and Lebanon. It also said the conflict has inflicted global economic pain by lifting energy prices since Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, a key international route for oil and liquefied natural gas.
Tasnim was cited as saying Iranian officials and negotiators have insisted on "the immediate cessation of the Zionist regime’s aggressive and brutal army operations in Gaza and Lebanon and the necessity of the regime’s complete withdrawal from the occupied areas in Lebanon." The report added: "there will be no talks until Iran and the resistance’s views on this matter are met."
The statements reflect positions attributed to Iranian authorities and allied groups in the context of ongoing diplomatic efforts and reported military actions across several fronts.