Iran, US-Israel War Highlights | Iran calls out US for 'gross violation' of ceasefire after fresh strikes

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Vessels carrying Middle East oil, LNG exit Hormuz, head for Pakistan, China

Two liquefied natural gas tankers are exiting the Strait ⁠of Hormuz on Monday, heading to Pakistan and China, while a supertanker with Iraqi crude for China ⁠left the Gulf on Saturday after being stranded for nearly three ‌months, shipping data showed.

The U.S.-Israeli ​war on Iran that began on February 28 has severely curtailed shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, through which around one-fifth of the world's supply of oil and LNG normally flows.

The vessels are among a handful of supertankers exiting the Gulf this month via a transit route ​that Iran has ordered ships to ⁠use. Last week, three Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) made their way to China and South Korea with 6 million barrels of crude.

(Reuters)

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Trump tempers expectations of a Middle East deal with Iran, reports AFP

US President Donald Trump tempered expectations of a Middle East deal by saying on Sunday he had told his negotiators not to "rush," even after both Tehran and Washington signalled progress towards an agreement to end the war.

The United States and Iran have observed a ceasefire since April 8 while mediators push for a negotiated settlement, although Iran has imposed controls on Gulf shipping and the US has blockaded Iran's ports.

The war erupted after the United States and Israel attacked the Islamic republic on February 28, and Iran responded with missile and drone attacks across the region.

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Rubio says details on Iran nuclear program still to be negotiated

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States was prepared to enter “into very serious talks” about Iran’s nuclear program if Iran reopened the Strait of Hormuz, signaling that the Trump administration was prepared to accept an interim agreement that didn’t immediately take away Iran’s ability to make nuclear weapons.

“You can’t do a nuclear thing in 72 hours on the back of a napkin,” Rubio said in a brief interview Sunday during his visit to New Delhi. “The straits have to be immediately reopened, and then we will enter, under agreed-to parameters, into very serious talks about enrichment, about the highly enriched uranium and about their pledge to never have nuclear weapons.”

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Rubio says US will either have a good agreement with Iran or deal with it 'another way'

​Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday ⁠the U.S. will ⁠either have ‌a good ​agreement with Iran or deal with the country "another way."

The ​U.S. will ⁠give diplomacy every chance to succeed before exploring the "alternatives," ⁠Rubio ‌told reporters in New Delhi.

There ‌is a "pretty ⁠solid thing on the table in ‌terms ‌of their ability to open ‌up ‌the strait, get the strait open, enter into a ⁠very ⁠real, significant, time-limited negotiation on the nuclear matter, and hopefully we can pull ​it off," Rubio ​said. 

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | US intelligence reports Iran's supreme leader is holed up in undisclosed location, says CBS News

US intelligence shows that Iran's supreme leader is effectively holed up in an undisclosed location with little access to the outside world and is only reached by a labyrinth of couriers, according to US officials with knowledge of the matter.

The report claims that main reason for the delay of the US-Iran deal is because Iranian officials authorized to work with the Trump administration have been having a difficult time communicating inside of their own government system.

Hence, details of a potential deal with Iran and past agreements have been slow to emerge.

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Qalibaf reelected as Iran's parliament speaker, Fars says

Iran's top ⁠negotiator ‌in ​talks with the ​United ⁠States, Mohammad Bagher ⁠Qalibaf, ‌has ‌been reelected ⁠as the country's ‌parliamentary ‌speaker, ‌semi-official Fars ‌news agency ⁠reported ⁠on Monday.

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Key US-Iran negotiator Munir in China with PM Sharif: Pakistan TV, reports AFP

 Islamabad's key negotiator between the United States and Iran, army chief Asim Munir, is in Beijing alongside the country's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for talks with Chinese leaders, Pakistan television showed on Monday.

Munir was in Tehran on Friday and Saturday alongside Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi as part of ongoing mediation efforts to formally end the Iran war.

China has said it would work with Pakistan to "make positive contributions to the early restoration of peace and stability in the Middle East".

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Iran says progress on many issues with US but agreement not imminent

Iran said Monday that Tehran and Washington had reached understandings on many issues in exchanges over a deal for ending the war, but warned an agreement was not imminent.

"It is correct to say that we have reached a conclusion on a large portion of the issues under discussion," foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said, during a weekly news briefing.

"But to say that this means the signing of an agreement is imminent -- no one can make such a claim," he said, accusing Washington of shifting its positions

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Says It's Normal That Services That Will Be Provided Would Require a Price but Should Not Be Presented as Tolls

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Will not take tolls on Strait of Hormuz: Iran's Foreign Ministry

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Currently, don't have a plan to send delegations to Pakistan: Iran's Foreign Ministry

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Appreciate Pakistan's constructive role in mediating peace in Middle East: Xi Jinping

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Deal with Iran will either be a great and meaningful one, or there will be no deal: Trump

Iran and ⁠the ‌United States have played down ‌hopes for ⁠an imminent breakthrough in efforts ‌to end ‌their three old ‌war ‌on Monday, with the top US diplomat ⁠saying ⁠Washington will either get a good agreement or deal with the country ​in "another way."

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Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Israel far-right minister calls for return to 'intensive' combat in Lebanon

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Netanyahu admits difficulty influencing Trump decisions on Iran: Report

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told confidants in private conversations that Israel has little ability to influence Donald Trump's decision-making on Iran as the US president negotiates a deal in the nearly three-month-old war, Reuters reported.

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Ghalibaf and Araghchi are in Doha to meet Qatar’s PM over potential US-Iran deal to end conflict: Report

Iranian top negotiator Ghalibaf and foreign minister Araghchi are in Doha to meet Qatar’s PM over potential US-Iran deal to end conflict, Reuters reported.

The discussions are focused ‌primarily on ⁠the Strait of Hormuz and Iran's stockpile ‌of ‌highly enriched uranium, the official ‌told ‌Reuters.

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Iran health official says supreme leader suffered only 'superficial' wounds in US-Israel strike

AFP quoted an Iranian health ministry official on Monday saying that the injuries suffered by supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes in late February were only "superficial".

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Air defences activated in Iran's Gulf island of Qeshm, cause unclear, reports Mehr News

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Trump demands Saudi Arabia, Qatar sign Abraham Accords as part of Iran peace deal

Donald Trump urged Muslim-majority nations including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Pakistan to normalize relations with Israel as part of the Iran peace deal.

In a post on his Truth Social handle, he listed countries whose leaders he spoke with on Saturday about efforts to end the war with Iran, adding: "I stated that, after all the work done by the United States to try and pull this very complex puzzle together, it should be mandatory that all of these Countries, at a minimum, simultaneously, sign onto the Abraham Accords."

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Iran says it downed 'hostile' drone over Gulf using new air defence system: Reports

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Israel military issues new evacuation warning for 10 Lebanon villages

Israel's military warned residents of 10 villages, most of them in southern Lebanon, on Monday to evacuate their homes ahead of expected strikes against alleged Hezbollah targets.

"In light of Hezbollah's violation of the ceasefire agreement, the Israel Defense Forces are compelled to operate against it with force," the military's Arabic-language spokesman, Colonel Avichay Adraee, said, listing the names of the villages.

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Israeli opposition leader Lapid says Trump's emerging deal with Iran is 'bad for the region'

The deal being discussed between the US and Iran fails to achieve any of Israel's goals for the war, Israel's opposition leader Yair Lapid said, as he accused Benjamin Netanyahu of failing to influence a better agreement.

Lapid, who is part of an alliance attempting to unseat Netanyahu in elections this year, said details of the emerging deal are "disturbing."

"The deal is bad for Israel, bad for the region, bad for the citizens of Iran," Lapid told reporters in Jerusalem.

(AFP)

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | There will be 'no surrender or retreat': Secretary of Iran's supreme national security council

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Iran's deputy foreign minister dials Misri to discuss West Asia situation

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Mexico says will host Iran during World Cup

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Iran says FIFA promised players will get World Cup visas: local media

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Iran would open Strait of Hormuz 30 days after deal with US to end fighting: Report

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Iran would open Strait of Hormuz 30 days after peace deal

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Explosions heard in Iran's Banda Abbas City

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | US forces conduct self-defence strikes in southern Iran

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | US military strikes Iranian boats, missile launch sites

The US military carried out strikes ⁠on Monday in ⁠southern ‌Iran against ​targets including boats attempting to lay mines and ​missile ⁠launch sites, in what it described as defensive ⁠actions.

US ‌Central Command said in a ‌statement the ⁠strikes were designed "to protect our ‌troops from ‌threats posed by ‌Iranian forces." (Reuters)

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Sirens regarding hostile aircraft infiltration were sounded in northern area of Sasa: Israeli military

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Rubio says Iran deal still possible within days despite US strikes

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that a deal with Iran was still possible despite new American strikes that cast doubt on their fragile ceasefire.

"There were some talks going on in Qatar today, so we'll see if we can make progress. I think it's a lot of talking back and forth going on about specific language in the initial document, so it'll take a few days," Rubio told reporters in Jaipur during an official visit to India.

"The president's expressed his desire to make it. He's either going to make a good deal or no deal," he said. (AFP)

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Iran’s nuclear dust can be destroyed in US or another location under IAEA supervision: Trump

US President Donald Trump said Iran's enriched uranium can be turned and destroyed in the US, but his preference is for it to be destroyed "in place" or at "another acceptable location," under the supervision of the IAEA.

Trump's comment marks a shift in his repeated statements that Iran hand over its enriched uranium to the US as a sticking point of any potential deal.

"The Enriched Uranium (Nuclear Dust!) will either be immediately turned over to the United States to be brought home and destroyed or, preferably, in conjunction and coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran, destroyed in place or, at another acceptable location, with the Atomic Energy Commission, or its equivalent, being witness to this process and event," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

On Monday, Trump said negotiations with Iran to end the war were progressing "nicely" and urged countries involved in the peace talks to sign on to the Abraham Accords, which deal with establishing diplomatic, economic and security ties between Israel and Arab nations.

He said it would be an honour to have Iran as a signatory to the Accords.

"...after all the work done by the United States to try and pull this very complex puzzle together, it should be mandatory that all of these Countries, at a minimum, simultaneously, sign onto the Abraham Accords," Trump said, adding that it may be accepted if one or two have a reason for not doing so. (PTI)

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Either a good deal or none: Rubio on peace talks with Iran

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday negotiating a deal with Iran could "take a few days," quashing hopes for an imminent end to the conflict a day after U.S. forces conducted what Washington called defensive strikes in southern Iran.

Describing the ⁠strikes against targets including boats attempting to lay mines and missile launch sites, Rubio said the Strait of Hormuz has to be open "one way or ⁠the other."

"The straits have to be open, they're going to be open one way or the other, ‌so they need to be open," Rubio told ​reporters on his plane in India's Jaipur.

Despite a ceasefire in place since early April, U.S. Central Command said in a statement on Monday it had carried out fresh strikes designed "to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces." (Reuters)

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Regional powers will no longer be shield for US bases, US will no longer have a safe haven in the region: Mojtaba

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said on Tuesday that regional countries would no longer be shields for US bases, in a written statement carried by state television.

"What is certain in this regard is that the hands of time will not turn backwards, and the nations and lands of the region will no longer serve as shields for American bases," said Khamenei, who has not appeared in public since he took office in March, in a message marking the Eid al-Adha holiday.

He said the United States "in addition to no longer having any safe haven in the region for aggression and the establishment of military bases, is moving further and further away from its former position with each passing day".

The remarks come as Iran and the United States continued exchanges aimed at reaching a deal to end the war which began on February 28 and spread across the region.

A fragile ceasefire has been in place since April 8.

Iran's foreign ministry has said Tehran and Washington reached understandings on many issues in exchanges over a deal for ending the war, but warned an agreement was not yet imminent.

On Tuesday, Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had downed a US drone and shot at other aircraft attempting to enter the country's airspace, without specifying when the incidents took place.

In a statement, the Guards further warned "against any violation of the ceasefire by the aggressor US military and considers its right to reciprocal response legitimate and certain."

On Monday, the US Central Command said forces attacked missile sites in southern Iran and boats trying to lay mines, despite the ceasefire.

Iran has not officially confirmed the US attack but state media reported blasts in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas without specifying their source. (AFP)

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Iran Guards say 'downed' US drone entering airspace

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards said on Tuesday that they had downed a US drone and shot at other aircraft entering the country's airspace.

US military aircraft "entered Iranian airspace in the Persian Gulf region, and air defence units of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps... identified and shot down an MQ-9 drone," the Guards said in a statement on their Sepah News website.

The Guards forces "also fired upon an RQ-4 drone and an intruding F-35 fighter jet," the statement said, without specifying when the incidents took place. (AFP)

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Iran's IRGC reserves right to retaliate for any U.S. ceasefire violations

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps ⁠said on ⁠Tuesday ‌it ​reserved the "legitimate and definite" right to ​retaliate ⁠against any ceasefire violations by ⁠the ‌U.S., adding that its ‌air ⁠defence units had shot ‌down ‌a U.S. ‌MQ-9 drone ‌and fired at a fighter ⁠jet ⁠that had entered Iranian airspace, state media ​reported. (Reuters)

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Khamenei invites 'all Islamic countries to friendship and cooperation'

Khamenei's written statement carried by state television said, "The clock cannot be turned back, the 'shaky Zionist regime will move closer to the end of its ominous existence'."

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Iran's parliament speaker MB Ghalibaf's Qatar trip focused on implementing demand to release frozen funds, state media reports (Reuters)

Iran has reportedly demanded that $24 billion of its frozen funds must be released in potential MoU with the US, state media Tasnim news agency says per Reuters.

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Iran executes man for intelligence cooperation with Israel, Tasnim ‌news ⁠agency said per Reuters

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Deal with Iran could take days: Rubio

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that negotiating a deal with Iran could "take a few days", quashing hopes for an imminent end to the conflict after U.S. forces conducted what Washington called defensive strikes in southern ⁠Iran.

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Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Iran will respond and will not hesitate in defending itself, says Iranian foreign ministry (Reuters)

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Iran judiciary suspends presidential body after it ordered internet restoration

Iran's judiciary on Tuesday suspended a presidential body that had ordered the restoration of internet access after months of near-total blackout since the start of war with the US and Israel.

The judicial decision targeted the "Special Headquarters for Organising and Governing the Country's Cyberspace", a body formed on May 12 by President Masoud Pezeshkian.

The body had on Monday reached a decision to "restore the internet" in Iran, according to government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani, after local media reported that Pezeshkian had decreed the measure. (AFP)

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Iran says new US strikes violated ceasefire

Iran said the United States had violated a ceasefire after the U.S. conducted what it called defensive strikes in southern Iran, while U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that negotiating a deal to halt the conflict could "take a few days".

Iran's ⁠foreign ministry said U.S. strikes in Iran's southern Hormozgan province, where Iranian media reported sounds of explosions early on Tuesday, represented a "gross violation" of a tenuous ceasefire in place for nearly seven weeks. Both ⁠sides had indicated progress on a memorandum of understanding that could halt the war and restart shipping through the blockaded Strait of Hormuz, ‌while giving negotiators 60 days to negotiate more complex issues including ​Iran's nuclear programme. (Reuters)

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Strait of Hormuz was fully open until your illegal aggression restricted navigation: Iran responds to Rubio

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Iran sees 'partial restoration' to internet after three-month shutdown (AFP)

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | US will not find safe spot to establish military bases in West Asia: Mojtaba Khamenei

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Pakistan plans oil reserves, storage push as Hormuz constraints expose vulnerabilities

Pakistan plans to boost domestic storage for crude oil and ⁠refined products to increase its energy security, according to a government document that was shared with oil producers and some ⁠of the world's leading trading firms.

Despite depending on supplies through the Strait of ‌Hormuz for up to 90% of its oil ​and liquefied natural gas imports, Pakistan has no strategic petroleum reserves.

According to the document, the energy ministry is proposing to build strategic petroleum reserves as well ​as commercial storage through bonded terminals, ⁠refineries and oil marketing companies. It is also pushing for more oil and gas exploration and production, upgrades to its refineries and a consolidation of its downstream sector. (Reuters)

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Trump completes routine medical check-up ahead of 80th birthday next month

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | US military dismisses rumours of escorting commercial vessels through Strait of Hormuz

The US Central Command said that the claims of American Navy escorting or assisting commercial vessels during transits through the Strait of Hormuz is false.

"Project Freedom has not resumed, and U.S. forces are not currently escorting commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz," it said.

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Israeli military operating with 'large forces on ground' in southern Lebanon, taking control of 'strategic areas': Netanyahu

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Israel carried out attack against Hamas' new arrived wing chief in Gaza: Netanyahu

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | 25 oil tankers, container ships and other commercial vessels passed through Strait of Hormuz: Iran's IRGC Navy

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Israeli military issues evacuation warning for 19 south Lebanon villages

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Israel carried out attack against Hamas' new armed wing chief: Netanyahu

Israel said it had attacked Hamas’ new armed wing chief, who it said was appointed ⁠just days earlier after Israel killed his predecessor, as ⁠it steps up military pressure in ‌Gaza and expands ground operations ​in Lebanon.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement the military had struck Mohammad Odeh, whom he described as Hamas' new armed wing chief in Gaza. (Reuters)

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Israeli strikes kill 31 in south Lebanon as Israel expands ground operations

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Israel pounds Lebanon with strikes, expands ground operations past security zone

Israel pounded Lebanon with more than 120 air strikes in one of the heaviest days of bombing in weeks, ⁠Lebanese security sources said, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his military was deepening its operations in the country. The bombing raids ⁠further strained a ceasefire announced on April 16 that was meant to halt fighting between ‌Israel and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, and ​came as Iran said the United States had violated a separate truce by striking southern Iran. (Reuters)

Iran, US-Israel War Live Updates | Sirens sound in several areas in northern Israel: Israeli military