Iran Warns It May Abandon Nuclear Talks After Israeli Airstrike on Beirut
Iran has threatened to withdraw from ongoing peace negotiations with the United States after an Israeli airstrike on Beirut on Sunday, a move that risks unraveling a deal that appeared closer than ever, according to officials familiar with the talks.
President Donald Trump condemned the attack in a series of posts on Truth Social, writing that the strike “should not have happened, particularly on a special day when we are so close to a Peace Deal with Iran.” The strike, which Lebanon’s health ministry said killed three people, targeted what the Israeli military described as a Hezbollah command center in the southern suburbs of Beirut. The Israeli army said it was responding to Hezbollah’s launch of “aerial targets” toward northern Israel earlier in the day.
“There should be no more attacks by Israel anywhere in Lebanon, but there should also be no more attacks by any other party, including Hezbollah, against Israel,” Trump wrote, calling on both sides to “stand down.”
But within hours, Iran’s parliament speaker and top negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, signaled that Tehran might walk away from the table. “The Zionists’ aggression against Dahieh once again showed that the United States either lacks the will to implement its commitments or lacks the ability to do so,” he posted on X. “If you do not have the will or the ability to fulfil your commitments, then there is no point in talking about continuing down this path.”
The strike came at a fragile moment. Trump had claimed in a Saturday post that a deal—reportedly in its final stages—would prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a critical oil shipping route that has been closed for months, driving up global energy prices. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also wrote on X that the two sides “are closer to a peace deal than ever before,” with signing expected within 24 hours.
But the bombing of Beirut has injected deep uncertainty. Iran has repeatedly insisted that any agreement must include a halt to Israel’s military campaign against Hezbollah and the occupation of southern Lebanon. Israel, under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has refused to accept that condition—a point of tension that has reportedly strained relations between Netanyahu and Trump. According to Axios, Trump called Netanyahu “crazy” during an earlier phone call and accused him of overreacting to Hezbollah attacks.
Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz and Netanyahu said in a joint statement that the strikes were a direct response to “continued Hezbollah attacks on Israel’s territory, including a terror drone strike this morning.” They added: “Israel will not tolerate firing into its territory.”
Iranian Brigadier General Mohammad Jafar Asadi, deputy head of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, warned that the latest Israeli strikes “will not go unanswered.” The demand that Lebanon be included in a final peace deal remains one of the major sticking points between Washington and Tehran, analysts say.
The conflict in Lebanon began in earnest on March 2, when Hezbollah started launching rockets into Israel in solidarity with its Iranian ally. Despite a monthslong Israeli bombing campaign across Lebanon, the occupation of large parts of southern Lebanon, and widespread destruction of border villages, Israel has failed to deliver a decisive blow to Hezbollah, a Shia militant group and political party backed by Iran.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry reports that Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,700 people, including 132 health workers and 247 children, and displaced around 1 million. Human Rights Watch has accused Israel of “numerous violations of the laws of war in Lebanon with total impunity, including apparently deliberate or indiscriminate attacks on journalists, civilians, medics, financial institutions, reconstruction-related facilities, and peacekeepers, in addition to the widespread and unlawful use of white phosphorus in populated areas.” Israel says 24 of its soldiers and four civilians have been killed in the same period. Human Rights Watch has also criticized Hezbollah for failing to adequately protect civilians.
Little is known publicly about the precise terms of the U.S.-Iran deal. Trump claimed in his Saturday post that Iran had agreed not to seek a nuclear weapon and that no money would change hands, despite Iran’s demand for war reparations. He also said the deal would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and suggested the U.S. would destroy Iran’s enriched uranium. “At the appropriate time, when all is calm, we will go in and get the Nuclear Dust… and downblend and destroy it,” he wrote.
But Trump has repeatedly claimed a deal was imminent over recent months, only for fighting to continue. Axios reported last month that the first stage would be a 60-day Memorandum of Understanding to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and allow Iran to sell oil freely, with Iran agreeing not to pursue nuclear weapons—something it says has always been its position. In return, U.S. forces would withdraw from the region after 60 days if all conditions are met.
The U.S. and Israel justified the war by saying it was necessary to destroy Iran’s missile program and end its support for proxy groups across the region. Those objectives appear unmet. The strike on Beirut now threatens to undermine the most promising diplomatic window in months, leaving the region bracing for renewed escalation.