Trump tells Netanyahu he is "crazy" to continue attacks on Lebanon

WashingtonThe Israeli offensive in southern Lebanon is hindering negotiations between the United States and Iran, which yesterday announced it was withdrawing from talks. Donald Trump is trying to get out of the Iranian quagmire, Tehran is pressing for the peace agreement to also include the Lebanese front, but Netanyahu is not willing to give up the war. Washington's and Tel Aviv's interests are contradictory, and they erupted in Monday's call between the two leaders. As the American media "Axios" revealed early this morning, Trump told Netanyahu that he is crazy to continue the attacks in Lebanon and accused him of being an "ungrateful" person, reminding him that he has helped him avoid going to prison with the White House's support in his corruption trial. According to the "Axios" source, Trump snapped at him: "You're a fucking lunatic. You'd be in jail if it weren't for me. I'm saving your ass. Everyone hates you. Everyone hates Israel for what you're doing." Another source claims Trump is "fed up" and at one point in the conversation asked the Israeli prime minister "what the hell are you doing?"

Donald Trump assured on Monday that Israel will not attack Lebanon. In a message on his social network, Truth Social, he explained that he had spoken with Netanyahu and that the call would have halted an Israeli offensive on the Lebanese capital – "There will be no troops going to Beirut, and all troops heading there have already been turned back" – after Hezbollah accepted a ceasefire. On the other hand, Netanyahu distanced himself from any agreement and said in a statement that Israel will maintain its attacks on Lebanon and that its stance "remains the same." The Israeli prime minister warned that he would strike "terrorist targets" in Beirut if the Shiite militia does not stop its attacks against Israeli cities and citizens and assured that Israeli forces "will continue operating in southern Lebanon as planned."

The message arrived after Iran interrupted negotiations with the United States this Monday to end the war, due to Israel's latest attacks in Lebanon. "Iran's negotiating team stops exchanging messages with the United States through mediators over the attacks in Lebanon," reported the Tasnim agency, affiliated with Iran's Revolutionary Guard. "The patience of the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran has its limits," published X the military advisor to the Iranian supreme leader, Mohsen Rezaei. Hours later, Trump contradicted Tehran and, after announcing Tel Aviv's supposed retreat in Lebanon, assured that talks with Iran were continuing. Uncertainty and contradictory messages were, this Monday, as since the beginning of this war, accentuated.

Be that as it may, what has exhausted the "patience" of the Iranian authorities have been the Israeli attacks in recent days in the south of the country and south of Beirut. After taking control of the strategic Beaufort Castle, in southern Lebanon, over the weekend, this Monday Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered attacks on peripheral neighborhoods in southern Beirut, stating that they are controlled by Hezbollah. Iran claims that this region is part of the ceasefire reached in April. Thousands of citizens from this suburb of the Lebanese capital fled on Monday afternoon in fear, after the Israeli army ordered the evacuation of the area. So far, more than a million people have been left homeless in Lebanon due to the war.

Tehran does not tolerate the escalation of Israel's war in Lebanon. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abbas Araghchi, said that Israel's attacks constitute a violation of the ceasefire: "The ceasefire between Iran and the US is unequivocally a ceasefire on all fronts, including Lebanon. A violation on one front is a violation of the ceasefire on all fronts. The US and Israel are responsible for the consequences of any violation," he wrote. For the first time after days when it seemed that the two sides could soon reach an agreement, Iran has raised its tone: "The naval blockade and the escalation of war crimes in Lebanon by the genocidal Zionist regime are clear evidence of the United States' breach of the ceasefire – said the chief Iranian negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, also. Every decision has a price, and the bill is coming," he added. Furthermore, the semi-official news agency reports that Tehran also demands that Israeli military attacks in Gaza cease, information that the Iranian government has not publicly confirmed.

More attacks between Washington and Tehran

Three months after the start of a war that the US president promised would be short and swift, the United States and Iran have failed to reach the longed-for agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and move towards peace. In fact, the two powers have jeopardized the ceasefire with mutual attacks over the weekend.

On Monday, Iran launched drones and ballistic missiles at Kuwait, which were intercepted, and then admitted that its target was a US military base that the United States had used to carry out bombings against its communications tower on Sirri Island in the Persian Gulf. Tehran maintains that it attacked in response to US attacks on Sunday against a telecommunications tower, and for its part, the US claims to have attacked in self-defense after Iran shot down a US drone over international waters.

In the morning, Trump had stated that Iran wants to reach an agreement and that "in the end, everything will turn out well". In a message published on Truth Social, Trump reiterated that the agreement, when it comes, will be "good for the US" and its allies. At the same time, he has described Democrats and several "apparently unpatriotic Republicans" as opportunists, and accused them of "speaking negatively" about the agreement.

Economic impact

The renewed offensive has also affected the stock market. Oil prices and U.S. bond yields have risen sharply. The Brent barrel reached $96, up 5%. Despite this, stocks have remained stable in the U.S., although in Europe there have been widespread declines. In the United States, the cost of gasoline continues to be 45% higher than when the war began.

On Friday, Trump met with his top advisors in the White House crisis room to make a decision on the end of the war, but no measures were announced that day. According to senior administration officials who later reported to various media outlets, the president had toughened the terms of the possible agreement and sent it back to Iran on Saturday. Although the sources did not reveal details about these changes, they did explain that Trump is concerned about the parts of the draft related to unfreezing Iranian funds. Trump has harshly criticized former President Barack Obama for doing the same more than a decade ago, when he signed the agreement to limit Iran's nuclear program.

On the other hand, the same sources have pointed out that Trump's objective would be for the Iranians to accept the draft soon, given the idea that the president could further toughen the conditions. The United States has been assuring for weeks that its priority is to reach an agreement that allows the Strait of Hormuz to be reopened, a key route for the transport of oil and gas on a global scale and which has been practically closed since the attacks by the US and Israel against Iran began, on February 28.