Iran speaker warns talks could collapse over Israeli attacks on Lebanon, threatens direct confrontation
Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned on June 7 that Tehran could abandon negotiations and move toward direct confrontation if Israel’s attacks on southern Lebanon and Beirut continue. Ghalibaf, who also serves as Iran’s main negotiator in talks with the US, accused Washington and Israel of sabotaging diplomacy. He said the US naval blockade and violations regarding Lebanon show they “only understand the language of power.”
Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned on June 7 that Tehran could abandon negotiations and move toward direct confrontation if Israel’s attacks on southern Lebanon and Beirut continue, escalating a crisis that has already seen Iran suspend talks with the US.
Ghalibaf, who also serves as Iran’s main negotiator in talks with the US, said Iran “will not only halt the path of negotiations, but we will also be in direct confrontation with the enemy” if the escalation continues. He accused the US and Israel of sabotaging diplomacy, saying “they are neither committed to a ceasefire nor believe in dialogue and by demonstrating through the naval blockade and violation of agreements regarding Lebanon that they only understand the language of power.”
In a post on X, Ghalibaf said “the naval blockade against the Iranian nation and America’s green light today to the Zionist regime turn American and regime bases and assets in the region into legitimate targets.” The warning comes after Israel’s continued attacks on southern Lebanon and Beirut, and follows Iran’s June 1 suspension of peace talks with the US and its threat to close the Strait of Hormuz over Israeli operations in Lebanon.