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Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi delivers message to Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei during a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Tehran, June 7, 2026. — Fars news agencyNaqvi delivers letter in meeting with Araghchi.US-Israel war on Iran enters its 100th...

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US, Iran exchange strikes in Gulf in latest flare-up

New attacks in the Middle East on Friday threatened to unravel an already fragile US-Iran ceasefire. Weeks of complex talks marked by threats and flare-ups of violence have failed to secure a deal to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key conduit for global energy flows. A ceasefire in the Middle East war, triggered nearly 100 days ago by US and Israeli strikes that wiped out Iran’s top leadership, has been in place since April 8. But tensions surged again on Friday when the US military said it struck radar sites in Iran after downing drones headed toward the strait. Shortly after, air raid sirens sounded in neighboring Gulf nations Kuwait and Bahrain — both US allies — and AFP correspondents in both countries heard explosions. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said early on Saturday they had targeted “enemy bases in the area” with missiles in response to a US “invasion” of the country’s Sirik and Qeshm islands. US Central Command (Centcom) said Iran launched seven ballistic missiles toward Kuwait and Bahrain. Centcom said six of the missiles were downed while the seventh “did not reach its intended target”. “There are currently no reports of harm to US personnel, and Iranian claims of damaging US 5th fleet headquarters in Bahrain are false,” the command said in a statement. The latest flare-up came despite the United States moving ahead with allowing Iran’s national football team to travel to the FIFA World Cup it is co-hosting with Canada and Mexico. US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack confirmed the visa issuances, saying that “sports transcends borders, and we look forward to welcoming competitors and fans from around the world”. However, Iran’s Fars news agency reported that visas had yet to be issued for some members of the team’s “technical and executive staff”. An unnamed US administration official said in a statement: “We will not allow the Iranian team to abuse this system to sneak terrorists into the United States under false pretenses.” The team is due to fly from Turkey to Spain on Saturday before traveling on to their base camp in Mexico, where they will arrive on Sunday. Trading strikes Earlier Friday, Centcom said its forces also downed four Iranian drones headed toward the Strait of Hormuz before striking Iranian coastal radar installations in Goruk and on Qeshm Island. “The attack drones posed an immediate threat to regional maritime traffic,” while the strikes on radar installations “defend against further attacks,” it said in a statement. Iranian state television IRIB reported early on Saturday, local time, that “several explosions were heard” in Sirik in southern Iran at around 2:30am (2300 GMT Friday). “Following the invasion of the child-killing and terrorist US army into Sirik and Qeshm Island, enemy bases in the region were hit by aerial missiles,” IRIB reported, quoting the Guards after the US strikes on Iran. Kuwait’s military said early on Saturday it was responding to “hostile” missile and drone attacks, days after a strike on the country’s international airport killed one and wounded dozens. “Kuwaiti air defenses are currently responding to hostile missile and drone attacks,” the military said on X, without specifying their origin. US President Donald Trump told NBC News on Friday that Iran still retained roughly “21, 22 per cent” of its missile stockpile despite repeated claims from US officials that Tehran’s military capacity had been crippled. That figure was higher than the 18pc Trump gave in May. Lebanon asks for ‘mercy’ Efforts to turn the truce into a lasting settlement have repeatedly stalled, while the conflict has rattled global markets and increased political pressure on Trump at home ahead of midterm elections. “The negotiations are at a deadlock and Trump must break this deadlock,” Mohsen Rezaei, military adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, told CNN in an interview on Friday, as he called for the release of frozen Iranian assets to the tune of “$24 billion”. Lebanon — which was drawn into the Middle East war when Hezbollah attacked Israel on March 2 — called on Friday for Iran to stop interfering in its affairs. Israel and Hezbollah traded attacks after a new truce deal was flatly rejected by the group. Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam addressed Iran’s leaders in frank terms during a press conference, saying: “Have mercy on our south, stop treating it and its people as merely a bargaining chip.” “We are the people of a sovereign nation that refuses to serve as … an open battlefield for their wars.” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi took aim at similar criticism from Lebanese President Joseph Aoun early on Saturday, calling on him to save Lebanon from its “real foe”. Iran, in peace negotiations with Washington, has insisted that the fighting in Lebanon and the war in the Gulf are inextricably linked.

Trump claims Iran agreed to no nuclear weapons amid reports of 'tougher' terms sent to Tehran

United States President Donald Trump said he had secured guarantees from Iran that it would not develop nuclear weapons, as reports emerged he had sent a tougher peace proposal back to Tehran. Any tweaks to the proposal could prolong even further an agreement to formally end the Middle East war and open the Strait of Hormuz maritime route after weeks of efforts to secure a deal despite fractious rhetoric and the occasional flare-up of armed conflict. The New York Times and Axios media outlets reported on Saturday that Trump had sent back a new framework to be considered by Iran with “tougher” terms, though it was not immediately clear what that entailed. Trump has said his priorities for any deal include stopping Iran from any nuclear weapon development and re-opening the blockaded Strait of Hormuz. “The one guarantee that I have to have is that there will be no nuclear weapons. They’ve agreed to that, and it was very interesting,” he told his daughter-in-law Lara Trump in an interview broadcast on her Fox News programme on Saturday night. But Tehran has previously cast doubt on Trump’s assertions and the parties appeared far apart on their key priorities. Iran has said it requires the release of $12 billion in frozen assets before it moved to substantive talks on issues such as its nuclear programme and called earlier Trump comments that its enriched uranium — a precursor for nuclear weapons — would be destroyed “baseless”, according to Iranian media. Tehran has also insisted that Lebanon must be included in any end to the war despite ongoing fighting, with Beirut accusing Israel of a “scorched-earth policy” as its forces advanced and carried out further airstrikes. After Trump and US officials earlier said they were on the brink of striking a deal, he struck a less urgent tone and hinted at renewed military action in the Fox interview. “I’m in no hurry,” he said. “Slowly but surely we’re getting, I think, what we want and if we don’t get what we want, we’re going to end in a different way.” Flare ups That echoed comments from Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth who said at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Saturday that Washington was “more than capable” of restarting the war if necessary. Though daily strikes throughout Iran and the Gulf have stopped since Tehran and Washington struck a temporary ceasefire in April followed by historic talks hosted by Pakistan, bursts of armed conflict have continued. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) had shot down a US military drone “about to enter Iranian territorial waters to conduct hostile operations”, Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB reported, an incident that has not been confirmed by the US. Earlier in the week, the worst fighting since the fragile ceasefire broke out when US forces carried out strikes on the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, countered by retaliatory fire from Iran. Nevertheless, diplomacy has continued with Trump under pressure to reach an agreement that would lift US and Iranian competing blockades around the Strait of Hormuz that have choked international oil supplies and threatened the global economy with rising prices. After Trump said on social media that Tehran would charge “no tolls” on ships passing through the strait once the blockades were lifted under any deal, Iranian news agency Fars cited sources saying “no such clause appears in the text of the agreement”. Iran’s ISNA news agency on Saturday cited lawmaker Alireza Salimi as saying a plan “to implement Iran’s management and sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz will soon be approved by parliament”. Expanded Lebanon operations Israel’s military issued evacuation warnings for more villages in south Lebanon on Saturday, a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli forces had pushed more than 30 kilometres into the country. Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam accused Israel of pursuing a “scorched-earth policy and collective punishment”, and called for “a swift and real ceasefire”. Israel’s military confirmed it was expanding its ground offensive in a statement released early on Sunday, saying “a significant number” of its forces had advanced past the Litani river and were carrying out expanded operations against Hezbollah in the Beaufort Ridge and Wadi al-Saluki area. A truce between Israel and Hezbollah began on April 17 but has never been observed, with both sides accusing each other of violating it. Israel and Lebanon began direct talks in April, with a fourth round expected in the coming week.

Iran says ‘nothing final’ as Trump weighs deal

• US president demands Iran never develop nuclear weapons, wants Hormuz opened without tolls • Tehran rejects Trump’s language, demands release of $12bn in frozen assets • Araghchi accuses US of excessive, shifting demands; Baqaei says no N-talks currently taking place • Vance says ‘lot of progress’ made in talks even as both sides trade barbs over truce violations • Washington denies Iran claim of destroying US plane in Bushehr WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump met advisers in the White House Situation Room for about two hours on Friday as he considered a potential agreement with Iran, though Tehran insisted there was still “no final agreement” on ending the Middle East war. A report from Iran’s Fars news agency also rebutted several key elements of Trump’s characterisation of the deal, citing informed sources as calling his remarks a “mixture of truth and lies”. US sources had told AFP the deal was just waiting on Trump’s sign-off following weeks of halting negotiations to end a conflict that had engulfed the Middle East and shaken the global economy. “I will be meeting now, in the Situation Room, to make a final determination,” Trump said in a lengthy social media post before the session, reiterating long-held demands that Iran agree never to have nuclear weapons and must open the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping lane. Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei, however, told state media that the Islamic republic “said goodbye to the language of ‘must’ 47 years ago”. “Regarding the understanding… exchanges of messages are continuing, but no final agreement has been reached yet,” he added. In his post, Trump said Tehran would remove mines in the Strait of Hormuz and end its blockade of the waterway with “no tolls”, while the US would lift its parallel blockade of Iranian ports, and the two countries would coordinate on removing and destroying Iran’s enriched uranium. He also said “no money will be exchanged, until further notice”. Fars, however, cited Iranian sources as saying that Tehran was demanding “the immediate release of $12 billion in frozen Iranian assets”, and that “until this payment is made, Iran will not move to the next phase of negotiations”. As for the toll-free reopening of Hormuz, they said, “no such clause appears in the text of the agreement”, while the comment on destroying Iran’s nuclear material “is fundamentally baseless”. Baqaei also told state TV that there were currently “no negotiations” taking place on Iran’s nuclear programme. Earlier Iran’s parliament speaker, who led its delegation at peace talks with the US in Pakistan last month, said Tehran had gained leverage not “through talks, but through missiles”, and was sceptical of US promises. “We place no trust in guarantees or words; only actions matter,” Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf wrote on X. ‘A lot of progress’ Hopes of an agreement had risen on Thursday after US officials were positive about the direction of diplomacy, with Vance telling reporters “a lot of progress” had been made. The optimism boosted US and Asian stock markets on Friday, while oil prices receded slightly. Energy markets have whipsawed this week as investors parse the chances of an agreement that could potentially resume normal shipping through the crucial Strait of Hormuz. Washington and Tehran have accused each other of violating the truce in and around the strait as recently as this week, with US strikes on the southern Iranian port of Bandar Abbas countered by retaliatory Iranian fire. Iranian state TV said on Friday that 24 ships had transited the strait in the past 24 hours, in coordination with the Revolutionary Guards and the foreign ministry. But it warned that “ships from hostile countries face a severe response” from Iran’s military. ‘US aircraft destroyed’ Earlier, Iran’s state TV said on Friday that a US aircraft was destroyed in Iran’s Jam governorate in Bushehr, citing its governor Masoud Tangestani, with no confirmation from the United States. However, the US military said no American aircraft were shot down near Bushehr, Iran, despite a claim made on Iranian state TV. “No US aircraft were shot down. All US air assets are accounted for,” the US Central Command said in a post on X. Iran president thanks Pakistan Meanwhile, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian “thanked Malaysia for its humanitarian stance and Pakistan for its initiative and effective efforts to reach an agreement” to end the US-Israel war on his country. In a post on X, Pezeshkian said that in his conversations with the prime ministers of Malaysia and Pakistan, he had emphasised “Iran’s commitment to diplomacy”. “Iran’s policy is to expand cooperation with Muslim and neighbouring countries in all fields,” he added. Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2026

Internet partially restored in Iran after months-long shutdown

PARIS: Iranian authorities partially restored internet connectivity on Tuesday after an almost three-month shutdown imposed after the US-Israel invasion on Feb 28. The shutdown left Iranians largely cut off from international networks, with only a domestic intranet working for daily tasks like shopping, ride-hailing and education. “Live metrics show a partial restoration to internet connectivity in Iran on day 88,” of the shutdown, monitor NetBlocks said on X, saying it was “unclear” if this meant a permanent end to the “longest nationwide internet shutdown in modern history”. Earlier during the day, Iran’s judiciary suspended a fledging presidential body that had ordered restoration of the internet. Judiciary suspends a presidential body that took the decision The Special Headquarters for Organising and Governing the Country’s Cyberspace was formed on May 12 by Pezeshkian. The body had on Monday reached a decision to “restore the internet”, according to government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani, after local media reported that Pezeshkian had decreed the measure. Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref said in a post on X that the “first step toward free and regulated access to cyberspace has been taken”, adding that the demands of Iranians “will be fulfilled”. State news agency IRNA and Fars news agency said “full international internet connectivity has been restored” for users of fixed broadband services, but this had not been confirmed by internet monitor NetBlocks. Witnesses inside Iran said mobile internet remains cut, but home internet with Wi-Fi had been restored, even though VPNs were still needed to access some social media. “A few minutes ago I could open international websites using my home internet provider,” said a 22-year-old woman from the western city of Kermanshah. A user in Tehran said the internet service for his company has been restored, but “mobile connection remained the same” without any access. Others reported that general access remained extremely patchy. Closure in January The shutdown imposed three months ago followed a similar blackout imposed on Jan 8 after the country was rocked by mass anti-government protests. Activists said that the January closure was aimed at masking the scale of a crackdown on the protests, as well as preventing more demonstrations. Published in Dawn, May 27th, 2026

Iran vows not to let aggression go unanswered after US violates truce

• Washington says strikes targeted Iranian missile sites, mine-laying boats • Rubio says Iran deal may take ‘a few days’; insists Hormuz will reopen ‘one way or the other’ • Iran says US drone downed, F-35 fired at; tanker damaged by external explosion off Oman • Trump to hold Camp David cabinet meeting on Iran crisis TEHRAN: Iran accused the United States of breaching their ceasefire on Tuesday and warned it was ready to retaliate and “will not leave any evil unanswered” after overnight US strikes targeting Iranian missile sites and mine-laying boats threatened a deal to end the war. The Brent benchmark oil price jumped up by more than four per cent after US Central Command announced the new wave of bombings, and China urged both sides to respect the truce and to resolve their dispute peacefully. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, meanwhile, said negotiating a deal to halt the conflict could “take a few days”. According to Iranian media, Iran’s negotiators had been pushing for the memorandum to include the release of billions of frozen assets at talks in Qatar. The maritime safety monitor UKMTO said a blast damaged a tanker on the waterline off Oman — although the crew and vessel were reportedly safe after what was described as an “external explosion”. Iranian state media reported overnight blasts in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, near the Strait of Hormuz, and the country’s Revolutionary Guards said its forces had downed a US drone entering its airspace and had fired at an F-35 fighter jet. “The US terrorist army, continuing its illegal and unjustified actions since the ceasefire … has, in the past 48 hours, committed a gross violation of the ceasefire in the Hormozgan region,” the Iranian foreign ministry said. It added that Tehran “will not leave any evil unanswered and will not hesitate to defend the Iranian nation”, without elaborating. A senior spokesperson for Iran’s armed forces also warned that any resumption of US and Israeli air strikes on Iran would meet a “heavier” and “stronger” retaliation, Al Jazeera reported. “If the region enters another round of war, Iran’s response will extend beyond regional borders and will be much heavier and stronger,” Abolfazl Shekarchi said in remarks carried by the Fars news agency. Tim Hawkins, a spokesman for US Central Command, said: “US forces conducted self-defence strikes in southern Iran today to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces.” He gave few details of the attacks and said only that the targets included missile launch sites and boats trying to “emplace mines”. Despite the strikes, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that a deal remained within reach. But he remained firm on the Strait of Hormuz, the key oil and gas shipping route which Iran is seeking to control. “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, during a visit to India. He said the strait was “going to be open one way or the other,” adding: “What’s happening there is unlawful, it’s illegal, it’s unsustainable for the world, it’s unacceptable.” Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump is set to hold a rare cabinet meeting at the Camp David presidential retreat as Iran talks near a critical point, a White House official told AFP. The New York Post reported that Iran was set to dominate the meeting, which was expected to be attended by all cabinet members. Doha talks Iranian and US officials have indicated that recent indirect talks made progress on a memorandum of understanding, or initial deal, that would lead to further negotiations over a final agreement. Iran’s top negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, its foreign minister and its central bank governor were in Doha on Monday for talks with Qatar’s prime minister on a potential deal, an official briefed on the visit said. Qalibaf returned to Iran after seeking agreement on the release of around $24 billion of frozen Iranian funds as part of the memorandum of understanding, Iranian media reported. Iran’s Fars news agency cited a source saying that the unfreezing of the funds was the last serious sticking point for the memorandum of understanding to be finalised. According to Iranian sources, an initial deal would cover ending the war on all fronts, establishing a 30-day framework for restarting movement through the Strait of Hormuz, and possibly providing some financial relief — with more complex issues such as Iran’s nuclear programme to be negotiated in a second phase. Iran has been letting some ships through the strait, giving preference to vessels linked to countries with which it has alliances or close ties, and striking government-to-government agreements, Reuters has reported. Trump has said his key aim in the war is to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon with its highly enriched uranium. Tehran denies any such plans. Published in Dawn, May 27th, 2026

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What we know about the possible US-Iran deal

The United States and Iran appear closer than ever to a deal that would end a war that has engulfed the Middle East and disrupted the global oil market. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the world might “get some good news” soon after President Donald Trump announced an agreement had been “largely negotiated” and would include the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Before Trump’s announcement, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei spoke of “a trend towards rapprochement” with Washington, but warned that “it does not necessarily mean that we and the United States will reach an agreement on the important issues.” He said on state television that Iran’s “intention was first to draft a memorandum of understanding, a kind of framework agreement,” before a final deal is reached within 30 to 60 days. What do we know about the possible agreement? Nuclear question Baqaei said that the nuclear issue was not be part of an initial framework. It will rather be “subject to separate discussions” at a later stage. But the New York Times, citing two unnamed American officials, said a key element of the proposed agreement was an apparent commitment by Tehran to give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium.” The question of how Iran would do so would be discussed in “later round of negotiations over Iran’s nuclear programme,” according to the paper. But Iran’s Fars and Tasnim news agencies reported that Iran made no commitments regarding its nuclear programme. “Iran has made no commitment in this agreement to hand over nuclear stockpiles, remove equipment, shut down facilities, or even commit not to build a nuclear bomb,” Fars said. Both agencies said that nuclear-related issues would be negotiated within 60 days of the understanding being signed. How will Hormuz reopen? A key sticking point in the talks is traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global conduit for oil shipments that has come under Iranian control since the outbreak of the war. Iran has insisted that vessels must obtain permission from its armed forces. Trump said on Saturday that “in addition to many other elements of the Agreement, the Strait of Hormuz will be opened,” a development that would bring relief to global energy markets. But, Fars news agency said that, if finalised, the potential agreement would preserve Iran’s management over the strategic waterway. Tasnim reported that “the status of the Strait of Hormuz would not revert to its pre-war situation.” It added that “the naval blockade, according to the reported framework, would also need to be fully lifted within 30 days,” referring to the US blockade of Iranian ports. Funds and sanctions Iran has long demanded the release of its frozen assets held under longstanding US sanctions. According to Tasnim, “Iran has insisted that any initial understanding must be conditional on at least partial access to the assets.” It quoted an informed source as saying that Iran “has stressed that there will be no agreement unless a specified portion of Iran’s frozen assets is released at the very first stage”. A clear mechanism must also be “established to guarantee the continued release of all blocked funds”. Tasnim’s source warned that “disagreements over this matter are among the reasons why no final understanding has yet been reached”. According to Fars, a potential understanding would also see the US temporarily lifting sanctions on oil, gas, and petrochemicals during the negotiation period. Is Lebanon included? Israel has been carrying out daily strikes in Lebanon despite a ceasefire agreement brokered by the United States, saying it is targeting the group Hezbollah. Iran has previously said that any ceasefire must apply to all fronts of the regional war, including Lebanon, and Hezbollah has said it is confident that its ally will not abandon it. Tasnim reported that “a memorandum of understanding (MoU) would first be announced, stressing an end to fighting on all fronts, including in Lebanon.” “Under the arrangement, Israel, as a US ally, would also be expected to halt the war in Lebanon,” it added. Baqaei told state television that “at this stage, we will not discuss the details of the nuclear issue … we have decided to prioritise an urgent issue for all of us: ending the war on all fronts, including Lebanon”.

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