On Sunday the spokesman for the Iranian parliament's National Security Commission again warned against pursuing a deal with the United States without first restraining Israel. Iran has tried to force a 'red line' on Washington - essentially making clear that if it doesn't get Israel under control in Lebanon, it can kiss an Iran and Hormuz Strait reopening peace deal goodbye.
"One must not fall into a calculation error. Even if you seek agreement or understanding, its path is disciplining the Zionist regime. If this rabid dog is not controlled the ink of an agreement not yet dry will bite our own foot," the influential Ebrahim Rezaei wrote on X.
The warning came immediately on the heels of the Israeli military having hit Beirut hard on Sunday morning, with airstrikes on what the IDF called Hezbollah infrastructure, in response to recent attacks on northern Israel.
Iranian officials have in turn repeated their threat that they could respond with military action.
Just as President Trump has been touting that a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be signed Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has thrown a possible big monkey wrench into things by stating that "Israel will not tolerate firing into its territory."
From Tehran's perspective, this could put a deal with Trump on hold, as it seeks to maintain its firm line that Lebanon peace must also be incorporated into a broader overall US-Iran peace.
This has proven elusive thus far, and the Iranians have long charged that Trump acts at the behest of Israeli interests - while the White House has in turn sought to make clear it makes decisions independently, and that Israel answers to Washington, and not the other way around.
Iran's response to the new Beirut bombings has been as expected, with the deputy commander of Iran's top joint military command Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters stating that Israel's assault on Beirut "will not go unanswered," according to state media
"The Zionists' crimes in the suburbs will not go unanswered," Mohammad Jafar Assadi was quoted as saying. And more importantly:
Iran's top negotiator, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, said that Israel's assault on Beirut's southern suburbs showed that the US "either lacks the will to fulfill its commitments or the ability to do so".
"If you lack the will and ability to fulfill your commitments, speaking of continuing the path is not possible," he added.
Lebanon's civil defense agency has indicated that the new attacks on Beirut's southern suburbs killed at least three people. "The bodies of three martyrs were recovered from under the rubble and six wounded," the agency announced in a statement.
Again, Israel is saying this was necessary out of self-defense. The IDF "just carried out strikes in the Dahiyeh district of Beirut against terrorist targets belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organisation, in response to Hezbollah's firing toward Israeli territory," it said. But certainly Tehran will voice vehement disagreement with this version of events.