Turkey's Fidan warns Israel could sabotage US-Iran deal

Esmail Qaani, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force, has warned Israel that it risks repeating its 2000 withdrawal from southern Lebanon if it continues its current course.

"If you do not retreat from your current path in southern Lebanon, the catastrophe of 2000 will be repeated," he wrote in a message addressed to the Israeli military.

"Take this warning seriously and make a wise decision," he added.

The reference to 2000 alludes to Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon after an 18-year military presence, an event Hezbollah and its supporters continue to portray as a major strategic victory.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel's military operations against Iran had created conditions for the eventual fall of the Islamic Republic and urged Iranians to seize the opportunity to overthrow their government.

Netanyahu made the remarks at the Jerusalem News Syndicate (JNS) International Policy Summit, where he argued that Israeli and US actions had severely damaged Iran's nuclear program, military capabilities and regional allies.

Netanyahu said Israel had prevented Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, destroyed nuclear infrastructure and killed senior nuclear scientists through operations conducted over the past year. He also said Israeli strikes had severely damaged the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and weakened Iran's regional allies.

The Israeli leader said the operations marked a shift in Israel's security doctrine, allowing direct military action inside Iran against nuclear, missile and other targets.

Netanyahu also highlighted Israeli operations against Hezbollah and Hamas, including the killing of senior leaders and attacks on military infrastructure. He said Israel would maintain security zones in Gaza, Syria and Lebanon for as long as necessary.

“We established a security zone in Lebanon, and we shall keep it as long as necessary to protect our people,” Netanyahu said.

The future course of talks between Iran and the United States remains uncertain following comments by US President Donald Trump, an Iranian state television reporter said on Sunday.

“Whether the negotiations will continue remains unclear,” the reporter said, adding that reactions to the response by Iran’s chief negotiator to Trump’s threats would be significant in determining the next steps.

The comments came after talks between Iranian and US delegations in Switzerland were paused, with an Iranian source earlier telling Reuters that negotiations had stopped but had not ended.

Talks between Iran and the United States in Switzerland were paused on Sunday but have not ended, an Iranian source told Reuters, after the first session halted following roughly 80 minutes of discussions.

Earlier, Iran's Guards-linked Tasnim news agency cited a source familiar with the negotiating team that Iran's delegation left the venue of talks in protest over comments by President Donald Trump.

Trump warned Iran on Sunday to stop what he described as its “highly paid proxies” in Lebanon from “causing trouble,” saying Washington would strike Iran again if they did not.

Iran's official IRNA news agency reported on Sunday that the Iranian delegation had left the negotiations venue after meeting with the Qatari delegation, one of the mediators involved in the talks.

The report fueled speculation that discussions between Iran and the United States in Switzerland had been suspended or ended.

However, Barak Ravid of Axios cited a diplomat participating in the talks who disputed that account.

“The Iranians haven't left and the talks between them and the US are continuing,” the diplomat said.