Iran halts talks with US over Israeli strikes on Lebanon, state media reports

Smoke rises in Lebanon following an air strike on Monday, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Lebanon border. (Reuters: Amir Cohen)

Iranian state media is reporting that the country's government has halted negotiations with the United States on an end to the war over Israel's conduct in Lebanon.

Earlier Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced he had ordered strikes on Dahiyeh in Beirut's southern suburb.

Donald Trump has said Iran has not communicated to the US that it planned to suspend talks.

Iranian state media is reporting that the country's government has halted negotiations with the United States over an end to the war in the Middle East, in protest over Israel’s conduct in Lebanon.

Earlier today Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced he had ordered strikes on Dahiyeh in Beirut’s southern suburbs, long considered the stronghold for the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah.

Those strikes are yet to begin - but the threat has forced many to flee the area, with Beirut’s usually heavy traffic even more jammed as a result.

The Tasnim news agency, often described as a semi-official outlet with ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), is reporting that Iran has stopped talks and the exchange of messages through a mediator.

That is likely referring to the role Pakistan has been playing in trying to broker a peace agreement.

Tasnim said Iran views an end to fighting in Lebanon as a precondition for any deal to end the broader regional war, now in its third month.

Soon after the report, the Israel Defense Forces’s (IDF) Arabic spokesperson issued a warning on X suggesting strikes were imminent if Hezbollah continued attacking Israeli communities.

"The State of Israel is not fighting the Lebanese people but rather the terrorist organisation Hezbollah," Avichay Adraee posted.

An Israeli air strike hit a building and damaged a hospital in the southern port city of Tyre, Lebanon on Monday. (AP Photo)

But US President Donald Trump has insisted that talks with Iran were continuing "at a rapid pace".

He also said Israel would not send troops to Beirut after he spoke with Mr Netanyahu.

"There will be no Troops going to Beirut, and any Troops that are on their way, have already been turned back," he wrote on social media.

"Likewise, through highly placed Representatives, I had a very good call with Hezbollah, and they agreed that all shooting will stop — That Israel will not attack them, and they will not attack Israel."

"An obvious reason for the escalation in the atrocities by the Zionist regime o