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Exchanges of messages between Iran and the United States related to efforts to reach a memorandum of understanding have been halted for at least several days now, the Fars News Agency reported on June 2, citing an informed source.
The source told the semi-official news agency that recent media reports and statements by some Western officials portraying communications between Tehran and Washington as routine “do not reflect the current reality.”
Message exchanges between the two sides regarding what has been described as an initial memorandum of understanding have been suspended for several days now, according to the source.
The source even told Fars the latest message from Iran to Washington was a “public message” concerning Lebanon that received broad international attention.
The Iranian decision to suspend the exchange of messages with the U.S. was first reported a day earlier by the semi-official Tasnim News Agency, which also said that the decision was taken in response to Israeli escalation against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
U.S. President Donald Trump intervened on the same day, stopping Israel from resuming strikes on the Lebanese capital, Beirut. He even boasted that talks with Iran were progressing “at a rapid pace.”
“Talks are continuing, at a rapid pace, with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on June 1.
Trump doubled down on his optimism, even Fars’ report, denying in another post to Truth Social that Iran halted talks with the U.S.
“The conversations between us have been going on continuously, including four days ago, three days ago, two days ago, one day ago, and today,” Trump said.
“Where they lead, one never knows, but as I told Iran, ‘It’s time, one way or another, for you to make a deal,’” he added.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio even told lawmakers on the same day that Iran has agreed to negotiate aspects of its nuclear program that it previously refused to discuss, although he noted that this is not a guarantee that talks will lead to a deal to end the war.
Still, a senior Iranian military officer warned that a resumption of hostilities with the U.S. is inevitable, stressing that the Islamic Republic will not surrender.
“The United States demands our total surrender, and the Iranian nation will never surrender,” said Mohammad Jafar Assadi, deputy head of Iran’s central military command, Khatam al-Anbiya. “Without surrender, war is inevitable.”
The reports coming out from Iran are likely more realistic than the optimistic claims being made by the Trump administration.
In any case, this contradiction between the two sides highlights the complete lack of trust between the two sides. If no breakthrough happens soon, war could resume.
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