TEHRAN, June 2: A senior Iranian military officer said Tuesday that a resumption of hostilities with the United States was inevitable, as negotiations between Tehran and Washington appeared to stall.
"The United States demands our total surrender, and the Iranian nation will never surrender," said Mohammad Jafar Assadi, deputy head of Iran's central military command, Khatam Al-Anbiya. "Without surrender, war is inevitable."
Iran has not yet responded to a proposed final agreement with the United States aimed at ending the conflict between the two countries, and discussions on the final text are continuing in Tehran, a source close to the Iranian negotiating team told Mehr News on Tuesday.
The source said Iran was reviewing the proposal cautiously because of what it sees as a history of US non-compliance and longstanding mistrust.
"Based on previous experiences, Iran is seeking tangible and real benefits," the source said.
US President Donald Trump told ABC News on Monday that he thinks there will be a deal with Iran to extend the ceasefire and reopen the Strait of Hormuz "over the next week", according to a post from the outlet on X.
Trump said that talks with Iran were ongoing, despite a report that Tehran had suspended indirect negotiations with the US to end hostilities.
"Talks are continuing, at a rapid pace, with the Islamic Republic of Iran," Trump said in a Truth Social post.
Iranian state news agency Tasnim reported earlier that Tehran was halting indirect negotiations with the US after Israel ordered troops to push deeper into Lebanon.
In telephone interviews with news outlets after that report, Trump said he had not been told that Iran was suspending talks with Washington.
"They haven't informed us of that," Trump said in an interview with NBC News.
Trump said that silence between the two sides would be fine and he was willing to wait.
"I think we've been talking too much if you want to know the truth. I think going silent would be very good, and that could be for a long time," he told NBC.
A suspension in negotiations would not mean the US would start bombing Iran, Trump told the network, adding that the US blockade of Iranian ports would remain in place.
In a separate interview with CNBC, Trump had said he did not mind if the talks were over.
"I don't care if they're over, honestly ... I couldn't care less," CNBC quoted him as saying.
Shortly after those media interviews were reported, Trump issued his social media post saying talks with Iran were continuing.
Tasnim had earlier said the Islamic Republic's negotiating team was stopping exchanging messages with Washington through mediators over attacks on Lebanon, where the US-Israeli war against Iran has reignited Israel's conflict with Hezbollah.
The move posed a further obstacle to hopes of a swift end to the crisis, after Iran said it had attacked a US air base following weekend US strikes on Iranian military targets that put further strain on a fragile ceasefire. "AGENCIES
