Qalibaf: Israel wants to drag America into an endless “quagmire” with Iran

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, Iran's chief negotiator with the United States, accused Israel of seeking to drag Washington into an open war with Iran, on a day in which Qatari mediation intensified to end the war.

Qalibaf wrote on the “X” platform, on Monday evening: “The Israelis are seeking day and night to drag America into an endless war with Iran. A quagmire from which no president, current or future, whether Republican or Democrat, will be able to emerge.

Hours earlier, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi made a similar comment on President Donald Trump’s talk about voters’ alienation from Israel. Araqchi wrote: “The American president clearly realizes that the vast majority of Americans are disgusted with Israel... They are tired of Israel deceiving the American administrations and dragging them into endless wars.”

Trump had spoken, in an interview with the “60 Minutes” program on CBS, about “an incredibly strong aversion to Israel” among the reasons for the Republicans’ loss in the midterm elections, in addition to the war on Iran and the rise in gasoline prices.

In Israel, Defense Minister Yisrael Katz said on Sunday that his country’s mission towards Iran “has not yet been accomplished,” and that Tehran is still seeking to possess a nuclear weapon. Iran denies this.

Trump told CNN that resuming war on Iran is “extremely unlikely” as long as negotiations on the nuclear program and reopening the Strait of Hormuz make progress, while keeping the military option in place.

On Monday, Trump met with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani at the White House, in a meeting that lasted about 45 minutes and focused on “negotiations with Iran,” according to a journalist on the Axios website. No official statement was issued about the meeting. A senior Iranian security official denied, to the Tasnim Agency affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, reports of an upcoming meeting between Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Mohsen Rezaei and US Vice President J.D. Vance in Doha, and said that Tehran will not negotiate “unless the American side takes a practical step within the framework of the seven conditions.” Tehran adheres to the “two-day proposal” to reopen the Strait. Araqchi said that the proposal is still “viable” if the Iranian conditions are implemented, and that the White House must make its decision. Foreign Ministry spokesman Ismail Baghaei described it as “the pinnacle of good faith,” in response to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who described some Iranian conditions as “outrageous and ridiculous,” ruling out an imminent breakthrough. On Monday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian revealed that Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei had ordered an end to the “no war, no peace” situation. Baghaei said that removing enriched uranium from Iran is “not on the table in any way,” and is one of the main American demands. The communications coincided with American strikes on Qeshm, and Tehran’s announcement of targeting 11 tankers in Hormuz within ten days. Informed sources revealed that US military aid to Israel will not stop by the end of this year, as US President Donald Trump announced last week, but will shrink to half its current size (about $4 billion annually), and will end within 5 years, while a portion of the discounted funds will go to the budget for developing air defense systems, which currently amounts to half a billion dollars annually. These sources, who work within the Israeli team negotiating with the Americans on the issue, said that Trump made the aforementioned statement on the morning of Election Day as part of his electoral campaign on behalf of the Republican Party, and in particular in order to support the Republican candidate in the state of Michigan, who lost to his Democratic rival, Abdul Rahman Al-Sayyed, who won membership in the Senate. His statement shocked the security services in Tel Aviv, which are conducting friendly negotiations with the American team of Foreign Minister Marco Rubio. According to Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, today (Monday), Trump's statements also shocked the owners of the American arms industry, who considered it a blow to them and their production. They ran to protest. They were reassured that the planned aid would continue as is at a value of $3.3 billion until the end of 2028, after which a new agreement would be concluded for another 5 years, instead of 10 years. Its value will not change. A portion of the amount available from this reduction will be added to the $500 million annually allocated to developing missile defense systems, such as “Iron Dome,” “David’s Sling,” and the “Hetz” system. This amount is paid to Israel as part of the aid agreement, but it is not as aid, but rather as an American partnership with Israel in developing the military capabilities of both parties. According to the sources, President Trump intends to end negotiations on aid with an agreement, which will be approved until the end of this year, that is, before the inauguration of the new Congress, early next January, in order to prevent the Democratic majority from nullifying it or compromising it. Israeli authorities have expressed their concern about the mere thought that reducing aid to Israel has become an issue to please the American public, as it indicates the extent of the deterioration of Israel's status in the United States. According to the military correspondent for the right-wing newspaper “Israel Hayom”, Yoav Limor, a senior American official who met him by chance a few days ago warned against this deterioration in harsh words, as he said: “You do not understand what is going on in the world against you. Their standing is collapsing. And not only in Europe and the Western world. Your standing is also deteriorating terribly with us. Your friends can no longer defend you. They do not believe that you are continuing with the same policy that has led to your decline, despite what you see with your own eyes of escalating hostility toward you.” It is noteworthy that US President Donald Trump returned to this topic last night, and said that the Republicans lost the midterm elections partly because of what he described as “the intense hatred for Israel” in the United States, indicating that he did not disagree with the assessment of his deputy, J.D. Vance, regarding the impact of the administration’s relationship with Israel on the decline in the party’s popularity. Trump's statements came in an interview broadcast in the evening on the "60 Minutes" program on the American CBS network, during which he touched on the war on Iran and the relationship with Israel, considering that anti-Israel positions were one of the factors that contributed to the Republican loss. Trump repeated his previous statement that “Israel would not exist” had it not been for his decision to attack Iranian nuclear facilities, referring to sending American B-2 bombers to target three sites at the same time. Regarding Israeli politics, Trump said that the head of the Yashar Party, Gadi Eisenkot, adopts positions similar to those of the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, claiming that both of them admire what he is doing. This came in response to Eisenkot's statements regarding his policies. Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper said that Israel's friends in Washington are impatiently waiting for Benjamin Netanyahu's era to end, and for Gadi Eisenkot to be able to form a new, rational government that will have the effect of curbing the deterioration in Israel's standing. She said: “The hope is that changing faces will lead to a change in policy, and thus give Israel an opportunity to make a tangible change in its policy, which will be reflected in a tangible change in its international standing.”