Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday convened a security consultation in his office in Jerusalem, as Iran’s foreign ministry lashed out at the US amid a diplomatic deadlock and a wavering ceasefire.

Further details on the prime minister’s discussion, reported to The Times of Israel by the office of one of the attendees, were not immediately available.

The meeting — for which Netanyahu’s testimony in his corruption trial was cut short — came the day after US President Donald deemed Iran’s response to an American ceasefire proposal “unacceptable,” and after the premier himself told “60 Minutes” that the war was “not over,” citing Iran’s remaining stockpile of highly enriched uranium.

It also came ahead of direct Israel-Lebanon talks in Washington later this week, and amid a continued US blockade on Iranian ports and Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei, in a press conference Monday, pronounced the US “the greatest threat to international peace and security.”

“The very presence of the United States in the region, the US military bases in the region,” said Baghaei, “are an example of creating a cycle of violence and bullying in the region.”

Contrasting what he called Iran’s “generous and responsible offer” to Washington’s “unreasonable demands,” Baghaei listed Tehran’s demands as “an end to the war, lifting the [US] blockade and piracy, and ⁠releasing Iranian assets that have ⁠been unjustly frozen in banks.”

The demands also included “safe passage through the Strait ⁠of Hormuz, ⁠and establishing security in the region and Lebanon.”

The US has been blockading Iran’s ports as Iran has blocked the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has demanded a ceasefire in Lebanon as part of the talks as well; while there is technically a truce in place there, it has largely unraveled.

“Iran has shown that it is a responsible power in the region, and at the same time, we are not bullying,” Baghaei said. “We are against bullying.”

Baghaei called on European countries not to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz, saying: “They should refrain from any move that would undermine their interests.”

“This war is not only unethical but also illegal. The US and Israel started their aggression against Iran. European countries shouldn’t be fooled,” he said.

Hours after Baghaei’s warning, however, the United Kingdom and........

© The Times of Israel