Iran stops talking to mediators, Iranian reports say, but Trump says talks continue
The reports from Fars and Tasnim news agencies, both believed to be close to Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, come as tensions flare in Israel’s separate but related fight against Iran-backed militia group Hezbollah in Lebanon.
A regional official involved in the mediation told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss the talks that Iran had no contact Tuesday after saying a ceasefire in Lebanon was needed for talks to continue.
In other developments, the US military said it fired a missile to stop another oil tanker trying to reach an Iranian port in violation of the American blockade. US Central Command said in a social media post that this was the seventh ship stopped by the military while trying to break through the blockade.
The post stated that the Botswana-flagged commercial ship M/T Lexie was stopped by an aircraft that launched a Hellfire missile into the engine room after the crew ignored repeated warnings for 24 hours.
Trump said talks continue uninterrupted
Trump called reports that talks had been stalled “inaccurate and inaccurate.”
“Conversations between us continued continuously, including four days ago, three days ago, two days ago, one day ago and today,” Trump said in his social media post. he said. “No one knows where they will go, but as I told Iran, it is time to make a Deal one way or another.” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio did not address the reported disruption in communications while testifying at a congressional hearing in Washington. Instead, he struck an optimistic tone about the nuclear dimension of the talks, while warning that there was no guarantee of reaching an “acceptable agreement”.
Iran is trying to increase pressure on Trump to negotiate a ceasefire in the Iran war and loosen the Islamic Republic’s control over the Strait of Hormuz and the oil, gas and other commodities that normally pass through it. Trump could then potentially force Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to halt or slow the advance of his forces, who have been pushing deeper into Lebanon for more than a quarter-century.
The conflicts are increasingly intertwined, with Iran insisting that a possible ceasefire in the war there should also stop the conflict in Lebanon.
Israel and the United States argue that the conflict in Lebanon is separate from war talks with Iran.
Inflation affects Iran economically
Meanwhile, annual inflation in Iran reached a level not seen since World War II in May, underscoring the economic hardship facing Iranians. While the United States is willing to ease the Islamic Republic’s control of the strait, through which a fifth of peacetime oil and gas trade passes, Iran faces economic difficulties as its oil-based economy remains under a U.S. naval blockade.
Economic pressure led to nationwide protests in Iran between 2017 and 2018, when rising food prices triggered demonstrations that led to more than 20 deaths and hundreds of arrests. The following year, a government-backed increase in gasoline prices caused protests in which more than 300 people reportedly died.
Then came protests at the beginning of this year over the devaluation of Iran’s currency, the rial. These were the most intense demonstrations to shake the Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution and the chaotic years that followed. Iran’s theocracy met the protests with a crackdown on demonstrators in January, killing more than 7,000 people, activists estimate.
Although conservatives now hold weapons workshops and marriages under the shadow of ballistic missiles to boost morale, experts warn there could be new demonstrations if people are priced out of feeding their families.
“I have no doubt that if Trump leaves (Iran without a formal peace agreement) we will most likely see something like January by the end of the summer due to economic and social situations,” analyst Mohsen Jalilvand said in a video published by Iran’s Fararu news site. he said.
