Trump highlights the ineffectiveness of the Islamabad talks in the shadow of Iranian dissensions

It is now no secret to anyone. Deep differences pit senior Iranian officials against each other regarding the direction that (potential) negotiations with the United States should take. This divide, which is increasingly bursting out into the open, has practically frozen, or even called into question, what some call "the diplomatic option" in the search for a way out of the current conflict.

These differences tearing apart the two antagonistic currents within the Iranian regime – the Revolutionary Guards against the so-called "moderate" faction – have practically rendered obsolete the visit that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had begun at the end of the week in Islamabad. Right from the start, this visit by the head of Iranian diplomacy was torpedoed by the president of the national security commission in the Iranian Parliament, who declared that "Araghchi is not entrusted with any mission in Pakistan concerning the nuclear negotiations." He also stressed that "the nuclear negotiations constitute one of the red lines for Iran."

His role having been marginalized from the outset, starting from Tehran, Mr. Araghchi contented himself with meeting Pakistani leaders, to whom he handed a document defining Iran's position in the current conflict. The document emphasizes "Iran's deep reservations regarding American demands," highlighting that the Islamic Republic demands "an end to the naval blockade and American attacks." According to some sources, the Iranian minister clarified to his Pakistani interlocutors that he was unable to modify the document in question "because it is a nightmare to reach the Supreme Leader"…

A direct consequence of the "call to order" from Tehran: a meeting between Mr. Araghchi and American negotiators, as part of the 2nd round of talks with the United States (expected for several days), was no longer on the agenda. The Iranian minister therefore left Islamabad late Saturday for Oman. President Donald Trump immediately canceled the departure of his two negotiators for Islamabad, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, emphasizing that he could not ask them to make an 18-hour trip "to sit at a table and discuss nothing." He added: "Our negotiating team has wasted a lot of time traveling unnecessarily (…). No one knows who is in charge in Iran. Even they don't know (…). We make an 18-hour trip to talk with people when we don't know who they represent in Iran"…

High tension in Fanar and the Sunni neighborhoods of Beirut

On the Lebanese front, three major developments marked the day of Saturday, April 25.

In southern Lebanon, the Israeli army carried out a targeted airstrike hitting a vehicle carrying three Hezbollah militiamen who were killed instantly. A second strike targeted a motorcycle ridden by a member of the pro-Iranian party, who was also killed instantly. Two other supporters of the Shiite group were additionally eliminated in the Litani region. In the evening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to order the IDF to "forcefully bomb Hezbollah positions in Lebanon"…

Other major developments this Saturday, April 25: in the Sunni neighborhood of Sakyet el-Janzir in Beirut, and in the capital's suburb of Fanar, two serious incidents sparked high tension at the grassroots level.

In Fanar, in the (Shiite) neighborhood known as "el-Zeaiterieh," two young Hezbollah supporters beat up a municipal agent. The parish priest of Fanar, Father Rabih, immediately intervened to contain the incident, but he was in turn assaulted and insulted by the two young supporters. The priest then took refuge in the Saint Joseph Church of Fanar. He was, however, pursued by the attackers, who stormed into the church uttering death threats against him and attacking the worshippers present.

The incident caused high tension in Fanar, where residents gathered in front of the church in a display of anger. In the evening, Metn MP Ibrahim Kenaan indicated that following contacts made with Army Intelligence and the Internal Security Forces, the two attackers were apprehended and handed over to ISF Intelligence. MP Elias Hankache confirmed on his end that the two attackers had been incarcerated.

In Beirut, elements of the State Security Service made an untimely intrusion, engaging in heavy automatic weapons fire (which nearly killed a young girl), into the Sunni neighborhood of Sakyet el-Janzir to apprehend a notable figure, Abou Ali Itani (a supporter of the Future Movement), who owns electricity generators and is accused of increasing electricity rates without legal authorization.

The untimely intervention by State Security agents and the heavy automatic weapons fire provoked an angry reaction among the neighborhood's residents, who accused the security agents of "blatant bias," asserting that the officer in charge of the unit that intervened in the neighborhood is close to Hezbollah and wanted to target Abou Ali Itani because of his openly hostile positions towards the pro-Iranian party.

The tension in Sakyet el-Janzir quickly spread throughout the capital's Sunni neighborhoods, where roads were blocked in Kaskas, Mazraa, Aisha Bakkar, Karakol Drouz, el-Mounla, Verdun, and Hamra.

The behavior of the State Security agents was stigmatized by Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and the Mufti of the Republic. Late in the afternoon, a delegation of mukhtars and residents visited the Minister of Interior to demand that measures be taken against the culprits. In fact, the government commissioner to the military tribunal, Judge Claude Ghanem, questioned five State Security agents suspected of being involved in the incident.

Finally, it should be noted that the former leader of the Progressive Socialist Party, Walid Joumblatt, was received yesterday by Syrian President Ahmed Chareh.