Lebanon under Tehran's thumb

Iran's Tasnim news agency said on Monday that Tehran's negotiating team is stopping exchanges of messages with the United States through mediators due to attacks on Lebanon, as diplomatic efforts to end the three-month-old Iran war continue.

The agency said Iran and the Resistance Front, which includes its Shiite allies in Yemen, Lebanon and Iraq, have set an agenda to completely block the Strait of Hormuz and activate other fronts, including the Bab El Mandeb Strait, in order to "punish" Israel and its supporters.

If the Houthis, Iran's allies in Yemen, open a new front in the conflict, one obvious target would be the Bab El Mandeb Strait off the coast of Yemen, a key shipping chokepoint and narrow passageway that controls sea traffic towards the Suez Canal.

"Violation on one front is a violation of the ceasefire on all fronts. The U.S. and Israel are responsible for the consequences of any violation," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on X on Monday, referring to Israeli operations in Lebanon.

The war launched by the U.S. and Israel on February 28 has killed thousands of people, mainly in Iran and Lebanon. It has also caused global economic pain by pushing up energy prices since Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global supply route for oil and liquefied natural gas.

"The immediate cessation of the Zionist regime's aggressive and brutal army operations in Gaza and Lebanon and the necessity of the regime’s complete withdrawal from the occupied areas in Lebanon have been emphasized by Iranian officials and negotiators, and there will be no talks until Iran and the resistance's views on this matter are met," Tasnim added.