Donald Trump blindsided by major Iran update in peace talks | World | News
A blindsided Donald Trump and his team were left reeling after Iran reportedly walked out on peace talks and ceased all communications with American negotiators.
President Trump revealed to NBC News that Tehran “haven’t informed us of that” when quizzed about the Iranian side stating they were ending talks. Trump added “they’re better negotiators than they are fighters”.
According to the Iranian state broadcaster, Tasnim, Iran said it was stopping “dialogue and exchange of texts through mediation” due to ongoing military action between Israel and neighbouring Lebanon. The Iranian regime said it would continue to block the Strait of Hormuz, the vital oil and gas shipping route which has been cut off stifling the global economy since the war began in February.
The stall in peace talks and the opening of the Strait come as the United States said on Monday that it bombed radar and drone sites in Iran after Tehran shot down an American drone over the weekend.
Iran then said it targeted American soldiers in Kuwait with missiles, which the US says it shot down.
Iran has maintained its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting global energy supplies and driving up the price of fuel around the world, with far-reaching consequences.
A cargo ship came under attack off Iraq on Monday afternoon, according to the British Ministry of Defence.
Fighting has also escalated between Israel and the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah, despite their nominal ceasefire.
Israel has extended its occupation deep into Lebanon, and Hezbollah, which joined the war in support of its main backer Iran.
Trump met with advisers on Friday but has yet to decide on whether to move ahead with a deal to extend the ceasefire and reopen the strait. Iran has said the deal had not been finalised.
The US and Israel launched the war with strikes on Iran on February 28. Trump has offered shifting goals for the conflict, although preventing Iran from building a nuclear weapon is among them.
Iran has insisted its nuclear program is peaceful, though it has enough highly enriched uranium to build several nuclear weapons, should it choose to do so.
US Vice President JD Vance suggested last week that negotiators are trying to strike general terms on Iran’s nuclear program, with the specifics to be hammered out in the ensuing talks.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei on Monday again accused the US of “constantly” changing its positions.
“From the beginning, we knew, and we continue to know, that we are negotiating in an atmosphere of mistrust,” Baghaei told journalists.
