Iranian media: Tehran suspends negotiations via mediators with US

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TEHRAN — Iran's Tasnim news agency said Tehran was suspending all exchanges with mediators in peace talks with the United States on Monday, blaming Israel's ongoing invasion of Lebanon.

"Given the continuing crimes of the Zionist regime (Israel) in Lebanon and considering that Lebanon was one of the preconditions for the ceasefire and that this ceasefire has now been violated on all fronts, including Lebanon, the Iranian negotiating team is suspending dialogues and exchange of texts through mediators," Tasnim reported.

It said Iran was demanding the "immediate cessation" of Israel's military operations in Gaza and Lebanon and its withdrawal from areas it occupied in its northern neighbour as a precondition for resuming talks.

Israel's military has pushed further into southern Lebanon than at any time since it ended its occupation of the region in 2000. On Monday, it warned residents of the capital, Beirut's southern suburbs to evacuate ahead of strikes.

Tasnim also reported that Iran and its allies had "set their determination to completely block the Strait of Hormuz and activate other fronts, including the Bab al-Mandab Strait", at the entrance to the Red Sea.

Iran's Yemeni ally, the Houthis, have previously attacked shipping in the latter strait and nearby waters, forcing ships to take long detours around Africa rather than sail through the Red Sea and Suez Canal.

Pakistan has been the chief mediator in talks between Washington and Tehran to end the war launched by the United States and Israel, which quickly spread across the region.

A ceasefire has been in place since April 8 and has held despite occasional incidents, but talks on a deal to end the war have so far failed.