Trump says Iran talks continuing at 'rapid pace' hours after claims ceasefire had collapsed
The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has not stopped despite the ceasefire on the 17th April
Donald Trump has said talks with Iran are continuing "at a rapid pace" just hours after reports emerged that the ceasefire between the nations had collapsed.
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The US President posted on TruthSocial: "Talks are continuing, at a rapid pace, with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP."
However, doubt had earlier cast on Monday over the negotiations and following fresh exchanges of fire between the two sides.
Iran accused Israel of violating the agreement’s terms by bombing the proxy group Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Iran has cut off diplomatic ties to the US and has threatened to fully close the Strait of Hormuz, Iran's state-affiliated news outlet Tasnim reported on Monday.
The country’s top negotiators believe that Israel violated the ceasefire by continuing to carry out attacks on Hezbollah allies in Lebanon and have stopped communicating with the US through Pakistani mediators.
Tehran announced that “no dialogue will take place” until Israel fully withdraws from Lebanon and stops attacks in Gaza, Tasnim reported.
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An Iranian official told state media: “The resistance front and Iran have resolved to completely block the Strait of Hormuz and activate other fronts, including the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, in order to punish the Zionists and their supporters.”
President Trump’s government previously attempted to establish a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, but without much success.
Following the ceasefire’s collapse, oil markets panicked, prompting crude oil prices to rise by over six per cent.
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz - the passageway for more than one-fifth of the world’s oil – saw gas prices spike across the globe for months.
Just hours before the ceasefire between the US and Iran collapsed on Monday, Trump insisted that Iran “really wants to make a deal” and said that a comprehensive peace deal with Tehran was in sight.
Trump took to X to write: “Iran really wants to make a deal, and it will be a good one for the USA and those that are with us”.
This comes after Iran shot missiles and drones at a US airbase in Kuwait, in response to US airstrikes against Iranian radar and drone command facilities, which the Trump administration insisted were “self-defence strikes”.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s government seems reticent to involve Lebanon in the overall ceasefire talks with Tehran, seemingly viewing the conflict as separate from the broader war.