Iran delegation leaves talks venue after Trump remarks, says IRGC-linked outlet

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would not allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons and would maintain military pressure on Hezbollah, signaling that ongoing US-Iran talks in Switzerland would not alter Israel’s security policies or constrain its freedom of military action.

“As long as I am prime minister of Israel, that will not happen,” Netanyahu said on Sunday, referring to Iran obtaining nuclear weapons. “Whatever diplomatic developments may occur, I will not allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons.”

Speaking at a memorial marking the 50th anniversary of the death of his brother Yoni Netanyahu, who was killed leading the Entebbe hostage rescue operation, Netanyahu said Israel would continue defending what he described as its vital national interests.

The Israeli premier repeated his assertion that Israel’s campaigns against Iran over the past year had removed an immediate threat, arguing that without Israeli action Tehran would already possess nuclear weapons.

Netanyahu also said Israel would remain in its security zone in southern Lebanon for as long as necessary to protect northern Israeli communities from Hezbollah attacks, adding that Israel would not relinquish achievements gained through its military operations against Iran and its regional allies.

Iranian Parliament Speaker and top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Sunday that the United States should be careful with its statements, threatening that Iran's armed forces were prepared to respond.

"If their threats had worked, they would not have reached today's impasse," Ghalibaf wrote on X. "The more they talk, the more we act."

Separately, a source cited by IRGC-linked Fars News Agency said US President Donald Trump's remarks had interrupted negotiations in Switzerland and cast uncertainty over whether the talks would continue.

Any negotiations between Iran and the United States on other issues will stop unless a provision requiring an end to hostilities on all fronts, including Lebanon, is fulfilled, Iran's IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News Agency reported on Sunday.

Tasnim said implementation of Article 1 of the memorandum of understanding, including guarantees for Lebanon's sovereignty and territorial integrity, is a prerequisite for talks.

The outlet added that Article 13 makes clear that any negotiating process depends on implementation of Article 1, and that discussions would only begin once those conditions are met.

The accusations were published by Raja News, which cited remarks by Mehdi Khannalizadeh, a member of the media team attached to the Iranian delegation during the Islamabad talks.

Khannalizadeh described what he portrayed as a prolonged dispute between the Supreme Leader and senior officials overseeing negotiations with Washington, saying that negotiators repeatedly departed from conditions set for engagement with the United States.

"The Supreme Leader fundamentally opposed the post-Islamabad negotiating process," Khannalizadeh told Raja News.

Dispute over negotiating framework

An initial proposal for talks with the United States was rejected after being submitted to Mojtaba Khamenei following his selection as a new leader, according to Khannalizadeh.

He said a subsequent ten-point framework was eventually developed and became the basis for an initial statement by the Supreme National Security Council. Khannalizadeh said the Supreme Leader added further conditions to the framework, including a prohibition on negotiations over Iran's nuclear program.

The United States initially accepted the framework as a basis for discussions, he said, but later declined to negotiate according to those terms once talks began in Islamabad.

Khannalizadeh added that members of the Iranian team nevertheless engaged in discussions touching on nuclear issues. He said this led US negotiators to conclude that Tehran wanted to avoid a return to war and could be pressured into making concessions.

Objections after Islamabad

Khannalizadeh said reports submitted after the Islamabad talks prompted a negative reaction from the Supreme Leader.

According to his account, the Supreme Leader criticized negotiators for discussing nuclear matters and for failing to insist on the conditions previously established for talks.

He also said several members of the Supreme National Security Council later wrote to the Supreme Leader arguing that negotiations could not proceed without addressing the nuclear issue and warning about the potential impact of continued conflict on Iranian infrastructure.

Khannalizadeh said Mojtaba Khamenei rejected those arguments and maintained that negotiations would not prevent attacks on the country's infrastructure.

Path to the agreement

Despite those objections, Khannalizadeh said officials continued exchanging messages with the United States and eventually abandoned the earlier ten-point framework in favor of a new 14-point proposal developed by the foreign ministry.

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  Hardliner reveals ‘top-secret’ Khamenei objections to US talks on state TV

That process ultimately led to the Islamabad agreement, he added.

Khannalizadeh continued that the agreement remained unanswered for roughly two weeks after being sent for approval. During that period, officials discussed whether the absence of a response should be interpreted as consent, he claimed.

According to his account, the Supreme Leader instead sent a letter containing a series of questions for members of the Supreme National Security Council. Officials later provided written explanations regarding their interpretation of the agreement's provisions before final approval was granted.

Khannalizadeh argued that the subsequent approval did not reflect support for the negotiating process itself, but rather acceptance of commitments made by officials regarding implementation.

Raja News and the hardline camp

Raja News is widely regarded as being close to the hardline conservative camp in Iran, particularly figures associated with the Paydari Front.

The outlet has frequently provided favorable coverage to politicians and clerics linked to that faction, including Saeed Jalili, Morteza Agha-Tehrani, Hamid Rasaee, Amir-Hossein Sabeti and Mahmoud Nabavian who are mostly opposed to talks with the US. Tehran Mayor Alireza Zakani has also been associated with the current at various points.

US President Donald Trump warned Iran 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.

In a social media post on Sunday, Trump said the United States would hit Iran “very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder,” escalating his rhetoric toward Tehran.

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