Iranian commander says renewed war with U.S. is ‘inevitable

A senior Iranian commander said renewed war with the U.S. appeared unavoidable as talks stalled and fighting between Israel and Hezbollah persisted.

A senior Iranian military commander said Tuesday that a return to hostilities with the United States appeared “inevitable,” sharpening doubts over a possible U.S.-Iran agreement at a moment of widening regional strain.

Mohammad Jafar Asadi, deputy head of Iran’s central military command, Khatam al-Anbiya, said Iran would not accept what he described as U.S. demands for surrender. “The United States demands our total surrender, and the Iranian nation will never surrender,” Asadi said in comments reported by Iranian state media. “Without surrender, war is inevitable.”

The warning landed as Iranian officials were still reviewing the latest draft of a potential agreement with Washington. Iran’s semi-official Mehr News Agency reported Tuesday, citing a source familiar with the talks, that Tehran had not yet sent a response. Another Iranian outlet, Tasnim, which is closely linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, reported Monday that Iran had suspended indirect negotiations with the U.S.

President Trump said Monday that the negotiations were “continuing, at a rapid pace,” but the mixed signals from Tehran underscored how uncertain the diplomatic track remains. The talks have centered in part on Iran’s nuclear program, including the fate of its stockpile of highly enriched uranium.

Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told Al Jazeera that moving Iran’s highly enriched uranium out of the country would be “difficult but not impossible.” He said options such as downblending the material were also under discussion, while noting that the IAEA was not directly involved in the U.S.-Iran negotiations.

The diplomatic uncertainty is unfolding alongside continued fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. Trump said Monday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had “turned his Troops around” after Trump asked him not to carry out a major raid on Beirut, and said both Israel and Hezbollah had agreed to stop shooting.

But the fighting did not stop overnight. Hezbollah claimed attacks on Israeli targets, and Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported Israeli strikes in several southern areas. Lebanon’s civil defense agency said Tuesday that an Israeli strike on Marwaniyeh, near Sidon, killed six people and wounded three.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi seized on Trump’s account of the Netanyahu call to accuse Washington of having a direct role in Israel’s conduct. Israel and Lebanon were expected to hold a new round of U.S.-brokered talks in Washington, but the continued clashes raised immediate questions about whether any announced pause could take hold.