Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warns US not to be trusted as Donald Trump toughens terms

Iran’s chief negotiator warned on Sunday the United States was not to be trusted, saying Tehran would not agree to any deal with Washington unless it fully secured Iranian rights.

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf’s remarks came as reports emerged that US President Donald Trump had sent a tougher peace proposal back to Iran, and underlined the rift that the parties still need to close.

Any tweaks to the draft could further delay an agreement to formally end the Middle East war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz after weeks of fraught negotiations marked by sharp rhetoric and occasional flare-ups of violence.

The delay comes as Israel pushed further into southern Lebanon with ground troops and it was revealed that the US had secretly coordinated the safe passage of 70 ships through the Strait of Hormuz.

Tougher framework

The New York times reported that Trump sent back a “tougher” new framework to be considered by Iran on Saturday, though details remain unclear.

Trump has said his priorities include stopping Iran from developing any nuclear weapon and reopening the Hormuz shipping lane, which Iran has blockaded since the war began.

“The one guarantee that I have to have is that there will be no nuclear weapons. They’ve agreed to that, and it was very interesting,” Trump said.

Tehran, however, has previously cast doubt on Trump’s assertions and the sides remain far apart on key issues.

“We will not approve any agreement until we are certain that the rights of the Iranian people have been upheld,” Ghalibaf, Iran’s chief negotiator, said in a video broadcast on state television.

According to the Tasnim news agency, exchanges on the text “are ongoing, with both parties regularly proposing amendments”.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that “until a clear conclusion is reached . . . everything that is being said now is speculation”.

He said that talks and message ‌exchanges with the ‌United States were ongoing.

We should ⁠not give ‌importance to speculation and we ‌can not judge the talks until we get to ‌a clear result, Araqchi added.

Iran has said it needs the release of $12 billion in frozen assets before engaging in substantive talks on its nuclear programme, dismissing earlier Trump comments that its enriched uranium stockpile would be destroyed as “baseless”, according to Iranian media.

Ghalibaf said earlier on Sunday that Iran would only sign a framework agreement with the US once concrete concessions — including the release of billions in frozen accounts — had been secured.

He reiterated during an online parliamentary session that Iran would not accept any agreement until there was certainty that the rights of the Iranian people were safeguarded, state news agency IRNA reported.

“We trust neither guarantees nor words — only actions count. No measures will be taken until the other side acts,” Ghalibaf said.

Iran was already in talks with the United States about the fate of its nuclear programme in February when the US and Israel launched air and missile strikes that wiped out much of the Islamic republic’s senior leadership.

And, while Tehran has long insisted that its nuclear programme is for purely civilian ends, the United States and its Western allies suspect it aims to develop a weapon.

Dark passage

US forces have secretly helped coordinate the passage of dozens of commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, according to The New York Times.

Officials said US Central Command had guided about 70 commercial ships through the strait, travelling into and out of the Persian Gulf, in the past three weeks.

Most of the vessels turned off their transponders to avoid detection when going through the narrow waterway, officials said.

The officials declined to say what type of vessels were going through and what route they took, but one indicated that at least one route was not close to the Iranian coastline.

Ships passing near Iran without obtaining Iranian approval face the threat of an almost-certain attack by Iranian drones or missiles, US officials said.

Shipping analysts say the US-guided crossings appear to follow routes that are closer to Oman.

Before the US-Israeli attacks on Iran in late February, well over 100 commercial ships a day passed through the strait.

US-guided crossings with the ship transponders turned off are known as “dark” passages, and shipping analysts said they could not verify how many took place.

Trump is under pressure to secure a deal that would lift competing US and Iranian blockades around the Strait of Hormuz that have strangled a vital route for global oil supplies.

After Trump said Iran would charge “no tolls” on ships passing through the strait under any deal, Iranian news agency Fars cited sources saying “no such clause” existed.

Iran’s ISNA news agency on Saturday quoted lawmaker Alireza Salimi as saying a plan for Iranian “management and sovereignty” over the strait — including imposing “administrative fees” — would soon go before parliament.

Flare-ups

One of Washington’s stated war aims was the destruction of Iran’s ballistic missile programme, with General Dan Caine — the top US military officer — estimating in April that more than 80 per cent of its missile facilities had been struck.

But CNN reported on Sunday that an analysis of satellite imagery showed Tehran has since been able to excavate 50 out of 69 tunnel entrances hit by US strikes at 18 underground missile sites.

Though daily strikes throughout Iran and the Gulf halted after Tehran and Washington agreed to a temporary ceasefire in April, there have been sporadic attacks.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards had shot down a US military drone “about to enter Iranian territorial waters”, Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB reported, though Washington has not confirmed the incident.

Capture the castle

Israeli troops have captured a strategic mountain topped with a Crusader-built castle in southern Lebanon, in their deepest incursion into the country in more than a quarter century.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the retaking of Beaufort “a dramatic shift.”

The capture of Beaufort castle near the city of Nabatiyeh came after days of intense fighting and airstrikes in nearby villages where Israeli troops fought Hezbollah members in the rugged area.

Smoke billowed from the surrounding area as the Israeli flag was seen flying above the castle, which Israel famously used as a base during their previous two-decade occupation.

Beaufort Castle is a 12th century stronghold that commands the surrounding area.

The capture of the castle marks a major gain for Israel as the two countries hold direct talks in Washington.

International criticism

France has called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, due to take place Monday, after Israel forces seized the historical landmark.

“Nothing can justify the continuation of Israeli military operations in Lebanon and an ever-deeper occupation of Lebanese territory,” Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said.

Barrot said he had requested the convening of the Security Council because the development represented a further escalation.

Whilst France recognises Israel’s right to self-defence against attacks by the Iran-backed militia, “nothing justifies this development,” he told the news channel.

It also constituted a “grave mistake” and a violation of international law, he said.

Deal must include Lebanon

Tehran has insisted that any peace deal include Lebanon, with Beirut accusing Israel of pursuing a “scorched-earth policy” as it expands operations against Iran-backed Hezbollah.

A truce between Israel and Hezbollah formally began on April 17 but it has never been observed, with both sides accusing each other of violating it.

An Israeli strike on Deir Zahrani in southern Lebanon killed eight people on Sunday, including three women, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

Resignation rumours

Unconfirmed reports have emerged claiming that Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian has told Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei in a letter that he wants to resign.

“Pezeshkian stressed that the President and the Government have effectively been excluded from major and vital decision-making processes in the country, and that the vacuum created by this situation has enabled hardline factions within the IRGC to take control of affairs,” the Iranian opposition news outlet Iran International reported.

Mr Pezeshkian reportedly said he was unable to run the country’s government due to those issues and made a request to step down immediately.

Flotilla takes Israel to court

Australians detained while trying to deliver aid to Gaza are taking evidence of alleged abuse and mistreatment to the International Criminal Court.

The 11 Australians among the 400 flotilla participants detained in international waters by Israel have joined the official submission lodged in The Hague, in the Netherlands.

The wider group of flotilla activists allege they suffered abuse at the hands of Israeli forces, such as broken limbs, sexual assaults, tasers to the face and being injected with unknown substances.

Australian lawyer Bernadette Zaydan said the submission alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture and other serious violations of international law.

“For the survivors, it is the beginning of hopefully what will be accountability,” Ms Zaydan said.

The flotilla was attempting to deliver food, medicine and baby formula to the war-torn Gaza Strip. Israel’s prison service has denied the abuse allegations.

Gaza’s yellow line

On Saturday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directed Israel’s military to take more of the Gaza Strip, initially by seizing 70 per cent of the Palestinian territory.

Israel effectively controls an estimated 64 per cent of the tiny coastal strip.

Under an October US-brokered truce that has failed to halt Israeli attacks or secure Hamas’ disarmament, Israeli troops were meant to withdraw to a “Yellow Line” demarcating the extent of their control.

Marked on military maps, that line put Israel in control of 53 per cent of the Gaza Strip, with Hamas ruling the rest.

Netanyahu has repeatedly said in public remarks that the military controls more than 60 per cent of the enclave.