Iran Halts U.S. Talks and Authorizes Houthi Red Sea Action Amid Lebanon Ceasefire Dispute

Iran suspended all diplomatic communication and messages with the United States on June 1, 2026, according to Iranian state media. -Iran ceasefire. Iran's negotiating team halted talks and the exchange of texts through a mediator, Tasnim reported, because of the continuation of what it called the Zionist regime's crimes in Lebanon.

The agency said Israel's war with Hezbollah was included in the ceasefire and that the agreement was being violated on all fronts. U.S. government has stated it rejected linkage between the Iran talks and the Lebanon conflict.

Tasnim also reported that Iran had given its Houthi rebel allies in Yemen authorization to attack commercial shipping in the Bab el-Mandeb strait. The agency said Iran and its regional proxy forces placed on their agenda the complete blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and the activation of other fronts, including the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

Iran had threatened at least three times during the war to have its Houthi allies attack the shipping lanes of Bab el-Mandeb.

U.S. Central Command guided around 70 commercial ships traveling into and out of the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz in the three weeks prior to June 1, 2026. U.S. Turned off their transponders. -Israeli attacks on Iran in late February 2026.

-coordinated passages averaged three ships a day over the three-week period. Nabih Berri, speaker of the Lebanese parliament, told the Trump administration on June 1, 2026, that Hezbollah is ready for a full and immediate ceasefire with Israel and pledged to guarantee its implementation, according to Berri's top adviser Ali Hamdan.

An Israeli official confirmed Hezbollah expressed readiness for a full ceasefire without demanding an immediate Israeli withdrawal. Israeli troops captured Beaufort castle, a strategic mountain topped with a Crusader-built castle in southern Lebanon, on June 1, 2026. The capture marked the deepest incursion into Lebanon in more than a quarter-century, the IDF said.

He added that Iran going silent “would be very good” and said, “I think I can wait as long as they want. ” The Trump administration negotiated a ceasefire in Lebanon separately from the Iran talks.

U.S. Has made clear all along that it rejected linkage to the war in Lebanon.