DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran stopped communicating with mediators after Israel threatened to bomb Beirut as it fights the Iranian-backed Lebanese militia Hezbollah, two semiofficial Iranian news agencies reported Tuesday.Halting communication likely is a means to further pressure U.S. President Donald Trump over negotiations on the ceasefire, which include trying to loosen Iran’s chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of all oil and natural gas passed in peacetime. Trump then could potentially pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to halt or slow the advance of his forces, which have moved deeper into Lebanon. Hezbollah remains one of Iran’s chief allies in its self-described “axis of resistance” against Israel.Meanwhile, year-on-year inflation in Iran reached a level in May unseen since World War II, underlining the economic pain average Iranians face as the Islamic Republic worries about the war with Israel and the United States restarting.
Iran reports say Tehran not talkingThe reports by the Fars and Tasnim news agencies, both believed to be close to Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, come as Iran insists the fighting in Lebanon is part of the wider ceasefire talks with the United States over the war. Israel and the U.S. maintain the fighting in Lebanon is separate from the Iran war talks. A regional official involved in the mediation, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the talks, said Iran has not communicated at all on Tuesday after saying that a ceasefire needed to be enforced in Lebanon for negotiations to continue.The U.S. is eager to ease the chokehold on the strait. At the same time, Iran faces economic challenges as its oil-backed economy remains under a U.S. naval blockade.
