Iran war negotiations with U.S. threatened by Lebanon attacks

The speaker of Iran’s parliament warned on Friday that planned talks with the United States to end the war cannot begin unless Israel stops attacks on Lebanon and the United States releases Tehran’s frozen assets.

Spokesman Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf issued the ultimatum after an American delegation led by Vice President J.D. Vance flew to Islamabad, Pakistan, for talks with Iran that will reportedly include Ghalibaf and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

Ghalibaf’s conditions strain Iran’s already fragile two-week ceasefire with the United States, which began on Tuesday.

“Two of the measures mutually agreed upon between the parties have not yet been implemented: a ceasefire in Lebanon and the release of Iran’s blocked assets before the start of negotiations,” Ghalibaf said in an X post.

“These two issues need to be met before negotiations begin,” he wrote.

President Donald Trump, meanwhile, expressed frustration that Iran continues to block most shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.

The Bosphorus is the world’s most vital shipping route for oil. Before the war, 20% of the world’s crude oil was transported through this passage.

Speaking to reporters earlier Friday, Vance said he thought the talks would be “positive” and warned Iran not to “play with us.”

According to the White House, in addition to Vance, the US delegation that will attend the talks includes Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law and advisor Jared Kushner.

“We look forward to the negotiation,” Vance said. “As the US President has said, if the Iranians are willing to negotiate in good faith, we are certainly willing to lend an open hand.”

“If they are going to try to play us, then they will find that the negotiating team is not that understanding,” he added.

“That’s why we’re trying to have a positive negotiation. The president… has given us pretty clear instructions and we’ll see.”

In a statement Tuesday evening, Trump said the United States would agree to a two-week suspension of hostilities subject to Iran’s agreement to fully and immediately reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

However, since then, ship traffic in the strait has been almost as tightly restricted as it has been since the war began on February 28.

In a post published on Truth Social on Thursday evening, Trump fumed: “There are reports that Iran is charging tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz. They better not be, and if they are, they better stop now!”

“Iran is doing a very bad, some would say dishonorable thing by allowing oil to pass through the Strait of Hormuz,” the president wrote in a follow-up post. “This is not the agreement between us!”