Iran says it declined invitation to attend Trump-led Mideast peace summit

“Contrary to many analyses and comments, the Al-Aqsa Storm operation was a mistake,” the paper wrote in an editorial on Sunday.

The newspaper said the attack caused significant damage to what it described as “anti-Israel movements” across the region, from Iran to Lebanon.

It also cited the death of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and the collapse of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government as “major losses” for what it described as the regional anti-Israel front.

It added that the paper's editorial board had believed from “the very first moments” the attack was a miscalculation, adding that, two years later, “our belief in this mistake has only grown stronger.”

The paper said in aftermath of the Iran's 12-day war with Israel in June — including the joint Israeli and US bombings of Iran’s Natanz, Isfahan, and Fordow nuclear facilities — had severely damaged the country’s military and nuclear command structure, setting its nuclear program back “considerably.”

Jomhouri Eslami — like Kayhan and Ettela’at — is overseen by Khamenei’s representative but is known for its more moderate tone under managing editor Massih Mohajeri, a Shia cleric who has at times criticized parts of Iran’s establishment and defended reformist figures such as Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mir-Hossein Mousavi.

Khamenei has previously praised Hamas’s October 7 attack, calling it a step toward “removing America from the region” and saying the operation “overturned the table of US policies.”

"The Iranian nation sent aid to the Lebanese people, including $60 million and oil supplies, but the Lebanese government refused to accept it because Iran is under sanctions," Amani said in an interview with Lebanon's LBCI TV.

He said the aid could have helped address part of the Lebanese people’s problems at a time when the country is struggling with economic and social crises.

"The Americans have been promising assistance to Lebanon for three years but have failed to deliver on their promise," the envoy said.

Given the tightening of US and UN sanctions against Iran, any financial dealings or aid from Tehran face international restrictions and sensitivities.

Earlier, Ali Larijani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said during a visit to Lebanon that Iran was ready to cooperate in the country’s reconstruction following Israeli attacks.

Hezbollah disarmament

Iran has no information regarding weapons held by Hezbollah, the Iranian ambassador in Beirut said, amid mounting calls by the US and the international community for the Tehran-backed group's disarmament.

Amani said he did not have precise information on whether Hezbollah would again use its weapons against Israel, but said that Sheikh Naim Qassem, the secretary-general of Hezbollah, has said the group is ready to confront any war or attack.

Amani said resistance "is not limited to weapons but stems from willpower — a will that can expel the occupier."

Lebanon’s president Joseph Aoun told Larijani in August that no group may bear arms or depend on foreign support, stressing that cooperation must remain within “national sovereignty and mutual respect.”

The issue has gained urgency as the United States pushes a new plan for Hezbollah’s disarmament, delivered by President Donald Trump’s regional envoy Tom Barrack. The proposal lays out Washington’s most detailed steps yet to remove the group’s weapons after its war with Israel last year.

Founded in 1982 by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Hezbollah has grown into Lebanon’s most powerful military and political organization, with capabilities surpassing the national army. The group has fought multiple wars with Israel and repeatedly rejected demands to dismantle its military wing.

In August, the Lebanese cabinet ordered the army to draw up plans to disarm Hezbollah as part of a broader effort to consolidate state control over weapons under a US-backed truce with Israel. Tehran condemned the move, accusing Western powers of seeking to weaken Lebanon’s defenses.

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem warned in August that any attempt to seize the group’s arsenal “would plunge Lebanon into war,” vowing the Iran-backed movement would not give up its arms.

“Keeping war away from the country is one of the government’s key goals, and we are pursuing it through diplomacy,” she said in her weekly briefing. Mohajerani added that while improving living standards remains a major concern, Iran cannot suspend broader progress under international pressure and years of sanctions.

Her comments come amid shifting regional dynamics following a US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that ended two years of conflict in Gaza. The agreement, backed by Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey, includes the release of hostages and prisoners and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from parts of Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this week he had resisted pressure to halt the war earlier, arguing Israel’s security depended on “eliminating the nuclear and ballistic threat from Iran” and “breaking the Iranian axis, of which Hamas is a central part.”

US President Donald Trump said Iranian authorities had recently expressed support for the Gaza deal and a willingness to “work on peace,” though Washington has maintained sanctions and tensions remain high following US and Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear sites in June.

Democratic Senator Cory Booker, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told Iran International that Iran and its regional allies remained “the main obstacle to peace,” accusing Tehran of backing groups that threaten the new truce.

Iran, however, has said it supports any agreement that ends what it calls Israel’s “genocidal war” and ensures Palestinian rights, while continuing to urge what it describes as a regional solution based on “mutual respect and diplomacy.”

The senior senator from New Jersey and ranking member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who has been a vocal supporter of Israel, said its Mideast arch-foe was the primary obstacle to progress.

“Iran plays a destructive role across the Middle East,” Booker said, following the announcement by Hamas and Israel that they had agreed to the first phase of a deal proposed by President Donald Trump to wind down the two-year-old war in Gaza.

“It is the main state sponsor of terrorism and stands behind every terrorist group—from Hamas to Hezbollah. When I speak with major Muslim leaders throughout the region, from Saudi Arabia and the UAE to Egypt, they all say the same thing: the biggest obstacle to peace in this region is Iran.”

Trump on Thursday said Iranian authorities had been in contact to express their desire to pursue peace and to strongly back the new deal to end the war.

Iran has been more measured in its public response, voicing general support in a statement on Thursday for any agreement that ends the Gaza "genocide".

Booker argued that the Mideast armed movements backed by Tehran could yet scupper the progress toward peace.

“We need to end terrorism, we need to end this nightmare,” he said. “There must be a ceasefire in Gaza, the hostages must be released, and humanitarian aid must reach people in desperate need. The main obstacle to these goals are the terrorist organizations that act as Iran’s proxies.”

'Opportunity must not be lost'

If implemented, the Gaza deal could usher in the first sustained truce since the war began on October 7 2023, when an attack by Hamas-led fighters into Israel killed more than 1,200 people and triggered a devastating Israeli campaign that has since left over 67,000 Palestinians dead.

Booker said the actions of the Tehran-backed Palestinian militants had scotched hopes for a two-state solution - the formula the vast majority United Nations member states hope will resolve the conflict.

“All the hopes for a two-state solution and a lasting peace were destroyed by one of Iran’s proxies—Hamas,” he said. “They massacred civilians, kidnapped children, and brutalized women. It’s a horrific and heartbreaking reality that shows how much innocent blood has been shed because of Iran’s destructive policies.”

In an April 2025 speech, Booker called for a “unified American voice” supporting a non-nuclear, democratic Iran, while calling for a robust defense against Iran-backed armed groups in the region.

“The United States must stand with the Iranian people,” he said at the time, “but we must also defend ourselves and our allies from the regime’s terror network.”

Prospects were ripe for regional peace before the regional conflagration ignited by the Oct. 7 attack, Booker said, adding that the opening provided by the preliminary Gaza deal must be exploited.

“We need to get back to the conditions that existed before October 7—when it seemed, finally, that there was an opening for peace. That opportunity must not be lost again.”

In a televised address a day after his government approved a deal to free hostages and end the fighting, Netanyahu said the campaign’s objectives went beyond Gaza. “I firmly rejected all the pressure because I had one consideration in mind — the security of Israel,” he said.

“That meant achieving the goals of the war: freeing the hostages, eliminating the nuclear and ballistic threat from Iran that endangered our existence, and breaking the Iranian axis, of which Hamas is a central part,” he said.

“Hamas, Hezbollah, the Assad regime, and Iran are all under one umbrella,” he said. “But despite the pressure, we stood firm and acted solely for the security of Israel.”

A day earlier, Iran said it supported the US-brokered Gaza ceasefire and any initiative that would end what it called Israel’s ‘genocidal war’ and secure Palestinian rights. The foreign ministry said Tehran backed efforts leading to “the withdrawal of occupying forces, the entry of humanitarian aid, the release of Palestinian prisoners, and the realization of the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people.”

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  Iran-aligned armed groups stronger despite Gaza ceasefire, Iranian MP says

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  Iran backs end of 'genocidal' Gaza war in cautious blessing of Trump deal

Government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani said Tehran would support any lasting peace that benefits Palestinians, while a conservative lawmaker voiced a tougher line, saying Iran-aligned armed groups would keep up their operations against Israel and the United States despite the ceasefire.

Behnam Saeedi, secretary of Iran’s parliament national security commission, told local media that “groups in the resistance front are today stronger and more active than two years ago against America and Israel.” He dismissed US President Donald Trump’s peace plan as unreliable, saying any deal that undermines Palestinian sovereignty “is doomed to fail.”

The ceasefire agreement, reached under a 20-point US proposal backed by Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, includes the release of hostages and prisoners, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from parts of Gaza, and the entry of humanitarian aid.

The two-year Gaza conflict triggered a wider regional war that pitted Israel and the United States against Iran and its allies. Tehran and its partners suffered heavy losses during that period, including the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, the fall of Syria’s Assad government, and Israeli and US strikes that crippled Iran’s nuclear infrastructure in June.