Iran Rejects Gaza Cease-Fire Plan, Warns Israel on Lebanon

Iran’s acting foreign minister dismissed a Gaza cease-fire deal proposed by US President Joe Biden and warned Israel against launching an all-out war on Lebanon during a visit to Beirut, his first official diplomatic visit since his predecessor died last month.

Ali Bagheri Kani replaced Hossein Amirabdollahian who died in a helicopter crash on May 19 in a mountainous area near Iran’s border with Azerbaijan.

Bagheri Kani met with Lebanese counterpart Abdallah Bouhabib as well as Lebanese Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri and caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati. He said he also met with Palestinian factions and others, but declined to give further information until official statements are released.

Tehran, a key backer of the Palestinian militant group in the Gaza Strip, backs a number of armed factions in the region, of which Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah is widely seen as the most powerful. Hezbollah would be Tehran’s first line of defense in case of a direct conflict between Iran and Israel.

“If the Americans are honest, then instead of proposing plans under the name of ceasefire, they must take one step, which is to end all aid to the Israeli entity,” Bagheri Kani said in a news conference at the Iranian embassy in Beirut. “Only once the aid is cut from the Israeli entity, the entity won't have the tools and ability to commit crimes against the Palestinians and the war will end.”

Iran's acting foreign minister said his government was engaged in negotiations with arch-foe the United States hosted by the sultanate of Oman.

Bagheri Kani said "we have always continued our negotiations and they have never stopped."

Iran's former top nuclear negotiator, said discussions with Western powers about Tehran's atomic activities were ongoing.

Washington and Tehran have not had diplomatic relations since the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran.