The president of the Iranian Parliament and the highest official of Iran's negotiating team, Mohamed Baqer Qalifab, has warned that he could suspend the ongoing talks with the United States after the attack launched this Sunday by Israel against the stronghold of the Lebanese Shiite party-militia Hezbollah in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon.
According to the latest victim count released by the official Lebanese news agency, NNA, the bombing has left three dead and 15 injured after the impact of at least four laser-guided missiles against a residential building in the Dahiya neighborhood, in the Ghobeiri area. The attack has caused "significant damage to nearby buildings and businesses," according to the same source. Israel maintains that the operation is a response to previous Hezbollah airstrikes against its territory.
Tehran has unequivocally made the signing of any pact with Washington conditional on the immediate cessation of Israeli offensives on Lebanese territory. However, the strike on Dahiya is of particular gravity, as it is a densely populated urban area and, at the same time, the main command and operations center of its strategic ally in Lebanon, Hezbollah, considered by Iran as its own political and military extension in the country.
The offensive occurs, moreover, at a particularly delicate moment, after the President of the United States, Donald Trump, announced that he would sign the expected memorandum of understanding with Iran on the same day. That document provided for the immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and the beginning of a 60-day period of intensive negotiations on the Iranian nuclear program and other points of tension, under a consolidated ceasefire, with special attention to Lebanon.
In this context, Qalifab interprets the Israeli attack as a sign that, in his opinion, the United States is not telling the truth or is incapable of controlling its ally. "The attack by the Zionists demonstrates once again that the United States either does not have the will to fulfill its commitments or does not have the capacity to do so," he stated in a message disseminated on social networks.
"By giving the green light to the regime (Israel), it is impossible for them to obtain concessions. The good cop, bad cop game is outdated. If they do not have the will or the capacity to fulfill their commitments, it is not possible to talk about continuing down this path," the Iranian negotiator stressed, leaving the continuity of the dialogue process with Washington up in the air.