Iran postponed US talks due to Israeli strikes on Lebanon, diplomats say

{"text":[[{"start":13.3,"text":"Talks between Iran and the US in Switzerland were postponed due to Israel launching a wave of deadly air strikes on southern Lebanon, according to three people familiar with the matter. "}],[{"start":24.3,"text":"Iran did not send a delegation to Switzerland for the nuclear talks because of the attacks, the people said. The interim agreement signed by the US and Iran on Wednesday stipulates the “immediate and permanent termination” of fighting, including in Lebanon. "}],[{"start":38.85,"text":"“The Iranians have asked for guarantees that hostilities in Lebanon will end, as outlined in the signed agreement, and mediators are currently working to resolve the issue,” said a diplomat with knowledge of the matter."}],[{"start":50.650000000000006,"text":"Israeli air strikes overnight and into Friday morning hit more than 10 villages across southern Lebanon, killing 21 people and wounding 39, according to the Lebanese health ministry. "}],[{"start":61.050000000000004,"text":"Lebanon has been a major sticking point and key test of the tenuous US deal with Iran, which backs the Shia militant group Hizbollah and insists Lebanon be included in the wider regional deal. "}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":72.05000000000001,"text":"Israeli attacks on Beirut have repeatedly threatened to derail US-Iranian negotiations, with US President Donald Trump openly expressing frustration with Israel’s insistence on continuing its offensive.  "}],[{"start":85.55000000000001,"text":"Iran has held firm in their stance of “no Lebanon, no deal”, said a second person with knowledge of the negotiations, adding that Tehran believes it has the upper hand and can extract concessions from Washington on Israel’s war on Lebanon."}],[{"start":100.15,"text":"According to the first diplomat, the Iranians’ message was: “We held Hizbollah back, the US is unable to hold Israel back. Until they do we won’t come.” "}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":110.05000000000001,"text":"Two of the people said the talks had been tentatively rescheduled for Monday but that it depended on the situation in Lebanon. A third person said it was still to be confirmed how long the delay would last."}],[{"start":122.4,"text":"Iranian officials and state media have not yet commented on whether Tehran called off the talks in Switzerland. However, Al Mayadeen, a Lebanese broadcaster that is close to Iran, quoted an unnamed Iranian official as saying that the latest Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon prompted Iran’s negotiating team to “postpone” its trip. "}],[{"start":142.55,"text":"Nournews, an outlet affiliated with Iran’s security institutions, said the question of whether the US can “compel Israel to fulfil the obligations” is more important “than any diplomatic meeting” and “will determine the future of the agreement and the prospects for war or peace”."}],[{"start":160.5,"text":"The White House said plans for the technical talks had not been finalised and that vice-president JD Vance would not be departing for Switzerland on Thursday night. They said the US delegation was “prepared to depart at the first available opportunity”."}],[{"start":174.45,"text":"The interim deal agrees to extend the temporary ceasefire agreed in April by 60 days, reopen the Strait of Hormuz and agree a framework for talks on Iran’s nuclear programme."}],[{"start":184.95,"text":"Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would stay in its “security zone” in southern Lebanon “as long as necessary to protect the northern communities”. “Israel will not tolerate attacks on our soldiers or our territory, and it will exact a very heavy price from Hizbollah for these attacks,” he said."}],[{"start":203.04999999999998,"text":"The Israeli military said it had struck more than 80 targets in Lebanon in response to what it said were “repeated violations of the ceasefire” by the Lebanese militant group. It said the strikes killed dozens of Hizbollah militants and that it was conducting further strikes on Friday morning, including in the Bekaa Valley. "}],[{"start":222.2,"text":"Hizbollah said it had been clashing with Israeli forces advancing deeper into southern Lebanon this week, adding that it had attacked troops trying to take positions in the Ali Taher area and in villages on the outskirts of the major city of Nabatieh."}],[{"start":235.45,"text":"The continued attacks were preventing the evacuation of casualties, Lebanon’s health ministry said on Friday morning. Lebanon’s state civil defence said one of its paramedics had been killed along with his family in an Israeli strike on the southern Lebanese village of Sharqieh on Friday."}],[{"start":253.1,"text":"Some residents of southern Lebanon who had been displaced had begun to return to their villages in the days after the deal was agreed, when Israeli air strikes were initially less intense. "}],[{"start":263.9,"text":"The Israeli military said four soldiers had been killed by a Hizbollah attack on their tank in the village of Tebnit in southern Lebanon shortly after midnight. "}],[{"start":272.34999999999997,"text":"Five more soldiers were injured in a separate explosive drone strike, the Israeli military said."}],[{"start":278.2,"text":"Far-right ministers in Netanyahu’s cabinet reacted with fury to the deaths and demanded an aggressive response, with ultranationalist finance minister Bezalel Smotrich saying that it was “time to speak with fire. To open the gates of hell.”"}],[{"start":293.8,"text":"Additional reporting by Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Tehran and Amy Mackinnon in Zurich. Cartography by Steven Bernard"}],[{"start":309.3,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1781867547_1273.mp3"}