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Iran announced Monday that it is suspending its indirect negotiations with the United States, pointing to Israel’s widening military campaign in Lebanon as the reason for the move, according to a report published by the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

The report said Iran’s delegation would stop participating in “talks and the exchange of texts through mediators,” adding another obstacle to efforts by Washington and Tehran to advance a wider diplomatic understanding.

Speaking to NBC News, President Donald Trump said his administration received no prior warning that Tehran intended to halt the discussions.

“It’s an appropriate thing to say, because they’re better negotiators than they are fighters,” Trump said. “But they haven’t informed us of that.”

Trump also indicated that Iran’s decision would not automatically trigger an escalation by the United States.

“It doesn’t mean we’re going to go and start dropping bombs all over there,” he told NBC News. “We’ll keep the blockade.”

Tasnim further reported that Iranian officials are weighing more aggressive measures, including a complete closure of the Strait of Hormuz and restrictions on passage through other critical maritime routes such as the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, in an effort to increase pressure on Israel and countries aligned with it.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also weighed in on the developments, posting a message on X in which he linked any understanding with Washington to the broader regional situation.

A “ceasefire between Iran and the US is unequivocally a ceasefire on all fronts, including in Lebanon.”

“The US and Israel are responsible for the consequences of any violation,” he added.

At the same time, Reuters reported that Tehran is attempting to secure a limited interim arrangement with Washington as it grapples with severe economic challenges while seeking to avoid major compromises regarding its nuclear activities.

According to Reuters, which cited three Iranian sources familiar with internal discussions, Iran is pursuing a temporary deal that would lower tensions with the United States, unlock access to financial resources, and ease economic hardship without settling the most contentious disputes surrounding uranium enrichment and other aspects of its nuclear program.

The report said Iranian officials view such a temporary understanding as a practical way to obtain economic breathing room and shore up domestic stability while delaying decisions on more politically sensitive nuclear issues.

Alex Vatanka, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington, told Reuters that Iranian leaders appear to believe “that dialogue, even limited dialogue, is preferable to entering an open-ended period of economic attrition and uncertainty.”

Reuters added that Iran’s leadership is increasingly worried about worsening economic conditions at home, including persistent inflation, a weakening currency, and falling standards of living. Officials reportedly believe that even short-term access to additional funds could help ease public frustration and reduce the risk of renewed domestic unrest.

Israel’s Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi, Rav Kalman Meir Ber, has published a comprehensive halachic essay strongly warning against ascending Har Habayis and engaging in acts of prostration there in contemporary times, emphasizing that such conduct may involve serious Torah prohibitions in addition to the longstanding ban on entering the area itself.

Rav Ber opens his discussion with the pasuk, “Hishamru lachem alos bahar u’negoa b’ktzeihu — Beware of ascending the mountain or even touching its edge.”

The article comes amid the growing phenomenon of organized groups ascending Har Habayis and publicly encouraging participants to bow and prostrate themselves there. It also follows recent public discussion sparked by reports regarding statements attributed to the Amshinover Rebbe concerning the subject.

In his essay, Rav Ber stresses that beyond the fundamental prohibition against ascending Har Habayis—a position upheld by gedolei Yisroel from across the Torah spectrum and by successive generations of Israel’s Chief Rabbinate—there is an additional and severe halachic concern regarding the act of bowing on the mountain itself.

The Chief Rabbi writes that entering the precincts of Har Habayis in our times constitutes an extremely serious prohibition and notes that the guidance of gedolei Yisroel and the chief rabbis throughout the generations has been unequivocal: Jews should not ascend any area of Har Habayis.

Rav Ber then addresses the separate issue of hishtachava’ah upon a stone surface. The Torah prohibits full prostration upon a stone floor, as the pasuk states, “V’even maskis lo sitnu b’artzechem l’hishtachavos aleha — You shall not place a stone surface in your land upon which to prostrate yourselves.”

While such prostration was permitted in the Beis Hamikdash itself, Rav Ber explains that a significant halachic question remains as to whether that dispensation applied only within the Azarah or extended to other areas of Har Habayis as well.

The Chief Rabbi notes that a number of later halachic authorities discussed the issue and remained uncertain about its parameters. Among those cited is the Minchas Chinuch, who treats the matter as unresolved.

Because the question involves a possible Torah prohibition, Rav Ber warns that individuals who prostrate themselves on the stone surfaces of Har Habayis may be placing themselves into a situation involving a serious safek issur d’Oraisa.

The article presents additional halachic arguments against prostration on Har Habayis beyond the general prohibition of ascending the site. Rav Ber emphasizes that the matter is not merely a theoretical discussion concerning the boundaries of the mountain or questions of ritual purity, but also involves a practical action that may itself constitute an independent and severe halachic violation.

In his concluding remarks, Rav Ber urges the public to distance itself from the growing trend of ascending Har Habayis and bowing there. He writes that the various guides, instructions, and public campaigns encouraging such behavior run contrary to the position maintained by gedolei Yisroel and the Chief Rabbinate throughout the generations.

According to Rav Ber, the halacha is clear: Jews should refrain from ascending Har Habayis and avoid placing themselves into serious halachic uncertainties at the holiest site of the Jewish people.

{Matzav.com}