Trump admitted that he was not informed in advance about the suspension of mediated communication with the US. Still, he welcomes the pause and hints at a longer period of silence.
US President Donald Trump told NBC News on Monday that he had not heard from the Iranians about suspending mediated communication in advance, but he said the pause was fine and he was willing to wait. TASR informs about it based on a Reuters report.
- Donald Trump accepts Iran’s pause in communication and is ready to wait.
- Iran suspends mediated communication with US over Israeli attacks in Lebanon.
According to the head of the White House, the Iranians are better negotiators than fighters, but he was not informed of the decision to suspend communications. “I think I can wait as long as they want,” Trump said.
Trump on recess
“I think we’ve talked too much, if you want to know the truth. I think it would be a very good thing to be silent and it could be for a long time,” Trump said in an interview with NBC News. “That doesn’t mean we’re going to start dropping bombs everywhere. We’re just going to be silent. We’re going to keep the blockade,” he added.
Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported on Monday that Iran’s negotiating team is suspending mediated communication with the United States in peace talks due to Israeli attacks in Lebanon.
“There will be no dialogue unless Iran’s demands for an immediate end to Israeli operations in Gaza and Lebanon are met,” the Iranian news agency said.
“Given the ongoing crimes of the Zionist regime in Lebanon and given that Lebanon was one of the conditions for the ceasefire and that this ceasefire has now been violated on all fronts including Lebanon, the Iranian negotiating team is suspending dialogues and exchanges of messages through mediators,” she continued.
Israeli operations in Lebanon
The Israeli army on Sunday announced the expansion of ground operations in Lebanon and the occupation of the strategic Beaufort Castle. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu highlighted the occupation of the castle and said on Monday with Defense Minister Yisrael Katz that the army had been ordered to attack Hezbollah targets in the movement’s stronghold in the Beirut suburb of Dahiya.
