Israel weighed possible Iran retaliation before Beirut strike - CNN

Iran was conveying its message to the United States through Qatari mediators in Tehran before Israel’s attacks on Beirut’s southern suburbs on Sunday, IRGC-affiliated Fars News Agency reported, citing a source close to the negotiations.

The source was quoting as saying that nothing had yet been finalized in the Iran-US talks.

“Even if all of Iran’s views are incorporated (into the US-Iran memorandum of understanding), no agreement will be signed at the time announced by Donald Trump,” the source added.

The Israeli military said it was preparing for the possibility of fire toward Israel in the coming hours following its strike in Beirut.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Chief of the General Staff Eyal Zamir was conducting ongoing situation assessments with relevant commanders.

“The IDF continues to maintain readiness and vigilance for a range of scenarios in defense and offense,” the military said in a statement.

“The IDF will not tolerate fire toward the territory of the State of Israel,” the military said.

Hezbollah commander Ali al-Hajj was killed in Israel’s airstrike on Dahieh in Beirut on Sunday, Al Arabiya reported.

Al Arabiya also reported that the Israeli military carried out three airstrikes on the town of Sajd in southern Lebanon.

The Israeli military earlier said it targeted a Hezbollah headquarters in Dahieh in Beirut in response to the Iran-backed group launching three drones toward northern Israel.

Iranian government spokesperson said on Sunday that those attacking the country’s negotiators were in effect attacking a national decision, not a person or political faction.

Fatemeh Mohajerani said diplomacy was not opposed to the battlefield but a continuation of it, adding that negotiating from a position of strength meant turning national power into tangible benefits for the public.

The spokesperson warned that any voice creating division would weaken Iran’s hand at the negotiating table and signal weakness to the other side.

The strikes in Beirut are creating issues with finalizing the Iran-US deal, Fox News correspondent Trey Yingst said on X, citing a diplomat involved in the talks.

“This is a clear attempt by Israel to sabotage the President’s deal and drag the United States back into war,” the diplomat told Fox News.

A senior Israeli official rejected the notion that Israel was to blame for the exchange of fire.

“Hezbollah attacks have targeted Israeli civilians the past three days,” the Israeli official told Fox News.