Iran rejects Trump’s claims of interference in Gaza ceasefire talks

Iran rejected on Tuesday US President Donald Trump claims that Tehran had interfered in the ceasefire- prisoner swap talks between the Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas and Israel.  

On Monday, Trump told reporters that the Iranians had “interfered” in the recent negotiations, which ended last week without any progress.

“I think they interfered in these negotiations, and they informed Hamas and gave them signals and orders, and that’s not good,” Trump claimed. 

Iran Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei denied such involvement and described Trump’s allegations as “completely baseless” and “a form of evading responsibility and accountability”.

Baghaei said Hamas negotiators “do not need” intervention by third parties because the movement “understands the interests of the oppressed people of Gaza and seeks to achieve them in the most appropriate way”.

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The latest round of indirect negotiations mediated by the United States, Egypt, and Qatar was held earlier this month in Doha, but failed to reach a ceasefire agreement.

Last month, Israel launched a surprise attack on Iran, targeting key nuclear and military sites, but the bombing also hit populated areas.

The United States briefly joined the war, striking Iranian nuclear facilities, while Tehran responded with missile and drone attacks.

In his remarks on Monday, Trump also said that Iran has been sending “very bad signals” since the end of the 12-day war with Israel, without specifying their nature.

For his part, Baghaei called on the United States to “stop sending lethal weapons to the occupying entity,” referring to Israel, and to compel it to “stop the genocide and allow humanitarian aid” into the besieged Gaza Strip.

READ: Trump says Israel must ‘make a decision’ on Gaza after ceasefire talks fail