U.S.-Iran Negotiations in the Balance, Israel Escalates Attacks Against Gaza and Lebanon

Iran on Tuesday denounced U.S. strikes a day earlier as a sign of “bad faith and unreliability” as negotiations for a framework for a deal to end the war hang in the balance. The U.S. military confirmed that it had struck vessels near the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas on Monday in what called “self-defense strikes,” while Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it shot down a MQ-9 Reaper drone that entered Iranian airspace. Meanwhile, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, and Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati traveled to Doha on Monday evening for continued talks with mediators.A senior Iranian official told Drop Site on Friday that Tehran had put forward a set of terms as a framework for a deal, including the provisional reopening of the Strait of Hormuz—contingent on an end to the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports, the release of billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets, and a plan to compensate Iran for damages incurred in the war. The official also stated that the Iranian framework would require an agreement to permanently end the war first, followed by immediate negotiations to reach a deal over the nuclear program.Drop Site’s Jeremy Scahill speaks with Dr. Foad Izadi, professor of American studies and international relations at University of Tehran, about the latest. Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Jeremy also speak with Eyad Amawi of the Gaza Relief Committee in Deir al-Balah about the escalating Israeli assault on Gaza and the growing hunger crisis. Sharif also discusses the latest in Lebanon as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu escalates Israeli attacks, and Jeremy outlines how President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace has unilaterally rewritten the Gaza ceasefire agreement in an effort to compel Palestinians to surrender their liberation cause and institutionalize Israeli domination over the future of the Gaza Strip. Get full access to Drop Site News at www.dropsitenews.com/subscribe