TEHRAN: Iran on Sunday said there was “no point” in continuing peace talks with the United States, accusing Washington of failing to uphold its commitments and casting doubt on a proposed deal that US President Donald Trump had insisted would be signed imminently.
The latest setback came hours after Israel — which launched the war alongside the United States in February — said its military had carried out strikes targeting Iran-backed Hezbollah in the southern suburbs of Beirut, further escalating regional tensions.
Trump had earlier claimed that a deal to end the war in the Middle East would be signed as soon as Sunday and said the blockade on the Strait of Hormuz would be lifted immediately afterward, although Iran had previously indicated a less certain timeline.
Iranian chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on X that Israel’s strikes on Beirut’s Dahieh district showed the United States either lacked the will or the ability to meet its commitments, adding that there was no point in continuing negotiations if obligations could not be fulfilled.
He added that if commitments cannot be implemented, continuing talks would be meaningless, further undermining prospects for an imminent agreement.
Trump had repeatedly said over recent weeks that a deal with Iran was nearly finalized, and on Saturday he reiterated that the accord was “scheduled to get signed tomorrow,” after which he said the Strait of Hormuz would be “open to all.”
Iran, however, has maintained that any agreement to end the wider Middle East conflict must also address the parallel war in Lebanon, where Hezbollah has been engaged in cross-border hostilities with Israel since March 2.
Iranian Brigadier General Mohammad Jafar Asadi warned that the latest Israeli strikes “will not go unanswered,” signaling the possibility of retaliation.
A US official said on Friday that the draft agreement under discussion included provisions related to Lebanon, which was drawn into the wider conflict after Hezbollah began firing rockets toward Israel earlier in the war.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry, which has played a mediating role between the parties, also indicated that the signing of the agreement was expected on Sunday.
However, Iran’s Fars news agency, citing a source close to the negotiating team, reported that Tehran had not yet made or announced a final decision on the deal.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei had already said a day earlier that the agreement would not be signed on Sunday, although he did not rule out the possibility of progress in the coming days.
A delegation from Qatar, another mediator in the talks, arrived in Tehran on Sunday to help facilitate finalization of the agreement, according to a diplomat familiar with the matter.
Both sides have issued conflicting accounts of the proposed deal, each attempting to portray itself as having gained the upper hand in the negotiations.
Iran has insisted it will retain control over the Strait of Hormuz, while the United States has repeatedly said such a move would be unacceptable.
Since imposing restrictions on the strategic waterway, which has disrupted global energy markets, Iran has required vessels to obtain permission from its armed forces before transiting and has set up a body to manage and collect tolls from passing ships.
In response, the United States has also imposed restrictions affecting Iranian ports, escalating the maritime dimension of the conflict.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday that the draft agreement included provisions calling for the lifting of the US naval blockade.
Another major sticking point remains Iran’s nuclear programme, particularly its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which US strikes last year are believed to have targeted.
Iran maintains that its nuclear programme is peaceful, while the United States, Israel, and several Western governments accuse it of seeking nuclear weapons capability.
Araghchi said the only viable approach to Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile was to dilute it inside Iran, rejecting proposals for its removal.
Trump, however, has insisted that the uranium must be taken out and destroyed as part of any agreement, arguing that this is necessary to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
He added on Saturday that once conditions stabilize, the US would “go in and get the Nuclear Dust” and either downblend or destroy it, whether in Iran or abroad.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said Trump had assured him that any agreement would include the removal of enriched nuclear material from Iran.
Meanwhile, tensions escalated on the Lebanon front as Israel issued evacuation warnings for 29 villages in southern Lebanon on Sunday.
Netanyahu’s office said Israeli forces had carried out strikes in Beirut’s southern suburbs targeting Hezbollah positions in response to rocket fire toward Israeli territory.
The Israeli military said it struck a Hezbollah infrastructure site, while Lebanese state media reported that a strike hit the Ghobeiry neighborhood of Beirut.
Lebanon’s civil defense agency said the strike killed at least three people and injured six others.
Separately, Israel’s military reported that three drones suspected to have been launched by Hezbollah struck northern Israel on Sunday, though no casualties were reported.