Sawt Falasteen - Iran FM blames US for failure of talks as he meets Putin

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was in Saint Petersburg as part of a whirlwind diplomatic tour, having sandwiched a trip to Oman in between two visits to main mediator Pakistan.

Islamabad hosted the first and only round of unsuccessful US-Iran talks, and Araghchi's visit had fanned hopes for fresh negotiations over the weekend, until US President Donald Trump scrapped a planned trip by his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

"The US approaches caused the previous round of negotiations, despite progress, to fail to reach its goals because of the excessive demands," Araghchi said Monday.

Trump told Fox News that if Iran wanted talks, "they can call us" -- though he has said the cancellation does not signal a return to hostilities.

Following their meeting, Putin and Araghchi both voiced their commitment to their countries' "strategic relationship".

Putin promised that Russia would "do everything that serves your interests... so that peace can be achieved", state media reported.

Araghchi said the war with the US and Israel had shown the world "Iran's true power" and the stability of its governing system.

But back home in Tehran, the outlook was more sober.

"Everything in the country is up in the air right now. I have not worked for a long time," small business owner Farshad told Paris-based AFP journalists.

"The country is in complete economic collapse."

- Economic pain -

In a sign that back-channel diplomatic efforts were ongoing, the Fars news agency said Iran had passed "written messages" to the Americans via Pakistan that spelt out red lines, including nuclear issues and the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump, meanwhile, met with his top security advisers Monday to discuss an Iranian proposal that would reportedly reopen the Strait of Hormuz as broader negotiations over the war continue, the White House said.

When asked about the reported plan, spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told a White House briefing that "the proposal was being discussed".

Though the ceasefire has so far held, the war's economic shock waves have continued to reverberate.

Tehran resident Shervin, a 42-year-old photographer, said he was feeling the pinch.

"It is the first time that I have reached a point where I was late on my rent. I still don't have any projects," he said.

Iran has blockaded Hormuz, cutting off flows of oil, gas and fertiliser and sending prices soaring.

In response, the US has imposed a blockade of Iranian ports in the waterway and beyond.

Trump is facing domestic pressure to find an off-ramp as fuel prices rise, with midterm elections due in November and polls showing the war is unpopular among Americans.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards, however, have said they have no intention of easing their market-rattling chokehold of the strategic waterway.

Ebrahim Azizi, head of the national security commission in Iran's parliament, told state television on Monday that a proposed law for managing the strait would make the Islamic republic's armed forces the overseeing authority, with financial gains from the waterway to be paid in Iranian rial.

The head of the UN's maritime agency, IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez, said there was "no legal basis" for imposing any fees for ships to pass through the strait.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also rejected the idea.

"They cannot normalise -- nor can we tolerate them trying to normalise -- a system in which the Iranians decide who gets to use an international waterway, and how much you have to pay them to use it," he said in an interview with Fox News Channel's "America's Newsroom".

- Violence in Lebanon -

Violence has continued on the war's Lebanese front, despite a recently extended ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war by firing rockets at Israel to avenge the death of Iran's supreme leader, with Israel responding with strikes and a ground invasion.

The group's leader Naim Qassem on Monday rejected planned direct negotiations between Lebanon and Israel as a "grave sin", vowing Hezbollah "will not back down".

Shortly afterwards, the Israeli military said it had begun hitting Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. Israel maintains that under the terms of the truce, it can act against imminent threats.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said rockets and drones possessed by Hezbollah remained a key threat that demanded military action.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz warned that "Qassem is playing with fire".

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, responding to Qassem, said his "goal is to reach an end to the state of war with Israel".

Israeli army chief of staff Eyal Zamir, however, said 2026 was "likely to be another year of fighting" for Israel on all fronts.

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J.Saleh--SF-PST