Iran says peace talks would be 'unreasonable' following Israeli strikes

Iran's lead negotiator, parliament speaker Mohammed Bager Qalibaf, has suggested it would be "unreasonable" to proceed with talks to forge a permanent peace deal with the US after Israel pounded Lebanon with its heaviest strikes yet on Wednesday, killing hundreds.

Qalibaf laid bare the continued volatility in the region following Tuesday's ceasefire announcement by President Donald Trump. The two sides have revealed sharply contrasting agendas for peace talks set to start on Saturday. 

The Iranian negotiator said Israel had already violated several conditions of that ceasefire by ramping up its parallel war against Hezbollah, while the US had violated the agreement by insisting that Iran abandon its nuclear ambitions.

"In such a situation, a bilateral ceasefire or negotiations were unreasonable," he said in a statement.

Israel and the US both said the two-week ceasefire did not cover Lebanon, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strikes would continue.

"I think the Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon, and it just didn't," US Vice President JD Vance, who will lead the US delegation, told reporters in Budapest.

The two sides appeared to be far apart on Iran's nuclear program as well, one of the factors that Trump cited as the basis for war.

Trump said Iran had agreed to stop enriching uranium, which can be turned into nuclear weapons, and the White House said Iran has indicated it would turn over its existing stocks.

"The United States will, working with Iran, dig up and remove all of the deeply buried ... Nuclear 'Dust,'" Trump said on social media.

Qalibaf, however, said it was allowed to continue enriching uranium under the terms of the ceasefire.

Though both the United States and Iran declared victory in a five-week-old war that has killed thousands, their core disputes remained unresolved. 

Despite the uncertainty, world stock indexes surged while oil prices plunged 14 per cent to settle near $95 per barrel O/R, after falling as low as $90.40.

'FINGER ON THE TRIGGER'

Netanyahu said Israel had its “finger on the trigger” and was prepared to return to fighting at “any moment.”

Lebanon's civil defense service said 254 people had been killed in Israel's strikes across Lebanon on Wednesday. The highest toll was in the capital, Beirut, where Israeli strikes killed 91 people, it said. Residents said some of the Israeli strikes had come without the usual warnings for civilians to evacuate.

Hezbollah said early Thursday that it fired rockets at northern Israel in response to "ceasefire violations."

French President Emmanuel Macron condemned "in the strongest possible terms" what he called indiscriminate Israeli attacks on Lebanon, saying in a statement on X that Lebanon "must be fully covered" by the ceasefire.

Leaders of 13 European countries, Japan, and Canada also issued a joint statement welcoming the ceasefire and calling for a swift end to hostilities in order to "avert a severe global energy crisis."

Iran also struck oil facilities in nearby Gulf countries, including a pipeline in Saudi Arabia that has been used to bypass the blockaded Strait of Hormuz, according to an oil industry source. Kuwait and Bahrain also reported missile and drone strikes.

The Strait of Hormuz remained shut to vessels sailing without a permit, and shippers said they needed more clarity before resuming transit.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards navy posted a map showing alternative shipping routes in the Strait of Hormuz to help ships avoid naval mines, the semi-official Iranian news agency ISNA said.

In a flurry of online posts, Trump announced new tariffs of 50 per cent on all goods from any country that supplies arms to Iran, though he lacks the authority to do so.

The war was launched on February 28 by Trump and Netanyahu, who said they aimed to prevent Iran from projecting force beyond its borders, end its nuclear program, and create conditions for Iranians to topple their rulers.