Bazhskian: We Abandoned Negotiations With Washington at Khamenei’s Request… and Zarif Resigns / Gaza Agreement Wavers as First Phase Ends and Netanyahu Rejects the Second

 March 03, 2025

The political editor wrote

Regional developments escalated over the weekend as Lebanon prepared to participate in the Arab Summit and its president planned a visit to Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, attention was divided among various pressing issues, including the evolving situation in Ukraine following a tense encounter between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whom Trump reportedly reprimanded in the White House before dismissing him.
In Tehran, the door was firmly shut on negotiations with Washington, once a key campaign promise of President Masoud Bazhskian, following Trump’s contradictory stance of extending an invitation for talks while simultaneously escalating sanctions and threats of war. In response, Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, deemed the timing unsuitable for negotiations. Acknowledging this directive, Bazhskian stated that while he had initially favoured diplomatic engagement, he was abandoning it in adherence to Khamenei’s guidance. In light of this shift, his deputy for strategic affairs, Mohammad Javad Zarif, the architect of the 2015 nuclear deal and a staunch advocate of negotiations, announced his resignation.
In Gaza, the ceasefire agreement began to unravel as the first phase officially concluded without any move toward implementing the second phase, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flatly refused. Netanyahu made it clear that he would not proceed with a full withdrawal from Gaza, and his Defense Minister, Yisrael Katz, revealed that Israeli forces intended to maintain control over the Salah al-Din axis, commonly known as the Philadelphi Corridor, along the Egyptian border. Meanwhile, Netanyahu has refused to declare an official end to the war, tying its conclusion to the complete eradication of Hamas. He claimed that an alternative proposal, attributed to U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, suggested extending the first phase – an idea Hamas rejected as a violation of the agreement. Notably, Washington, which brokered and guaranteed the deal, has issued no statement defending it. By evening, Netanyahu announced a halt to humanitarian aid entering Gaza. As the Arab and Palestinian public anticipates the upcoming Arab Summit, questions persist over why the Rafah crossing – an Egyptian-Palestinian border point, remains closed under Israeli orders.
In Syria, the occupation escalated its provocations, shifting to a new phase of sectarian manipulation. Israeli officials issued further threats under the pretext of “protecting Syria’s Druze”, as stated in an official communiqué from the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office following an incident in Jaramana, a Damascus suburb. Later that night, former Lebanese MP Walid Jumblatt announced his intention to visit Damascus for a meeting with transitional President Ahmad al-Sharaa.