War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

Iran’s Central Bank Chief Abdolnaser Hemmati has travelled to Qatar, according to Iranian state media.

It reported that the visit followed talks with a Qatari delegation in Tehran regarding Iran’s frozen funds.

Iran has been pushing in negotiations for its frozen funds abroad, including in Qatar, to be released

Trump also slammed democrats in his Truth Social post, who he said “know nothing of the potential deal I am making with Iran,” naming US Senators Thom Tillis, Bill Cassidy and Congressman Thomas Massie.

He said that the Democrats had “totally lost their way, constantly supporting bad policy and even worse candidates, but are constantly critical of each and every fantastic win I have”.

“In other words, they are losers!“ the president said.

US President Donald Trump says that the Iran deal “will either be a great and meaningful one, or there will be no deal”.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the deal will be the “exact opposite of the JCPOA disaster by the Obama administration”.

The US president maintained that the deal was a “direct and open path to a nuclear weapon for Iran. No, I don’t do deals like that!”

Chinese President Xi Jinping has appreciated Pakistan’s “constructive role” in US-Iran negotiations, Reuters reports.

“I know that you have just returned from Iran and made positive efforts for the current peace. We still appreciate the constructive role played by Pakistan,” Xi said.

During his official visit to China, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has been accompanied by CDF and COAS Field Marshal Asim Munir, who was recently in Tehran for meetings with the Iranian leadership.

President Masoud Pezeshkian has said that Iran “will not give in to the excesses of the enemy”, state broadcaster IRIB reports.

“The rights of the Iranian nation must be fully enforced,” he was quoted as saying.

Pope Leo XIV has labelled “outdated” the concept of a “just war” put forward by US President Donald Trump’s administration, warning that “humanity is slipping into a violent culture of power”, reports AFP.

“Today, more than ever, without prejudice to the right to self-defence in the strictest sense, it is important to reaffirm that the ‘just war’ theory, which has all too often been used to justify any kind of war, is now outdated,” he wrote in an encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas” (Magnificent Humanity).

Iran’s internet blackout has entered its 87th week after passing 2,064 hours, according to NetBlocks.

Esmaeil Baqaei further expressed Tehran’s intention to continue its drone and missile programmes, contrary to earlier demands made by Washington.

“We will definitely spend part of our money on the development of Iran’s drone and missile programme, and we will not ask permission from anyone for that,” state broadcaster IRIB quoted Baqaei as saying.

“If we didn’t do this, the bullies of the world, including America, would dominate us,” he stressed.

China urged the US and Iran to continue the “momentum of de-escalation” as potential signs emerged that the war between the two sides could wind down following recent diplomatic contacts, Anadolu reports.

“China’s position on the Iranian situation is very clear. This is a conflict that should never have happened and there is no need for it to continue,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters in Beijing.

“An earlier solution serves the interests of both the US and Iran, as well as regional countries and the world at large,” she said.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei has raised concerns over “contradictory views” that he said were emerging from within the American leadership.

“US politics is suffering from indecision. Facing contradictory views from US officials within just a few hours makes the process of any dialogue difficult,” IRIB quoted Baqaei as saying.

His remarks come after Trump last night said a deal with Iran was not “fully negotiated yet”, but Secretary of State Marco Rubio hinted that it could materialise “maybe today”.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei has said China is playing an “effective role” in the negotiations to stop the US-Iran war, Tasnim reports.

“China has a very good relationship with us and we have a strategic partnership and it has played a constructive role in all processes,” Baqaei was quoted as saying.

He noted that both China and Russia played a positive role at the UN Security Council.

Iran’s foreign ministry said that Tehran was collecting fees for “navigational services” on ships transiting the strategic Strait of Hormuz, rather than imposing tolls, AFP reports.

“The services that are provided — navigational services in addition to the measures necessary to protect the environment of the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman — require the collection of certain fees,” said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei in a weekly press briefing.

He added that Iran was “not seeking to collect tolls”.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will miss United Nations Security Council meeting due to US visa issue, according to foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei, Al Jazeera reports.

The meeting is supposed to be held in New York.

Speaking further, the Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson noted that there are “no guarantees” that the US will honour its commitments to a potential deal and said that Tehran does not care about “threats”, Al Jazeera notes.

“The changes in recent weeks have been caused by mediation from Pakistan and other countries,” he was quoted as saying, adding that the talks included a clause to end the ongoing conflict in Lebanon.

Baqaei further said it was “ridiculous” for the “aggressors” to speak about the welfare of Iranians, and that vital infrastructure, including steel and pharmaceutical plants, has been targeted by US-Israeli strikes.

Speaking about the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s Esmail Baqaei has said that while Tehran will not take any tolls, it is “normal that services that will be provided would require a price”, Al Jazeera reports.

The spokesperson explained that management of the waterway belonged to coastal countries.

“We are in contact with the countries bordering the Strait of Hormuz to provide security there and to protect their interests,” he said.

European shares opened at their highest levels in more than two months, buoyed by signs that Iran and the US are negotiating an end to their conflict, easing concerns about inflation and a global economic slowdown, according to Reuters.

The pan-European STOXX 600 up 0.61 per cent at 628.93 points, as of 0712 GMT, trading just shy of a record high touched in late February, just before the Middle East war erupted.

Most sectors traded higher, led by banks with a 1.7pc jump, while regional airlines such as Lufthansa and Air France KLM gained 4.2pc and 9pc, respectively, as Brent crude prices slid 5pc to $98 a barrel.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei has said that currently Iran does not have a plan to send a delegation to Pakistan, Reuters reports.

He has made these remarks during a press briefing.

Iran will discuss its nuclear programme and its highly enriched uranium with the US, if Washington fulfils its commitments in a potential memorandum of understanding being negotiated, a senior Iranian diplomat tells ISNA news agency, according to Reuters.

These issues will be discussed in 60-day negotiations in exchange for the lifting of sanctions and release of Iranian foreign assets, Hossein Nooshabadi said, according to the agency.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmaeil Baqaei, said “we have reached a conclusion on a large portion of the discussion topics this is correct but this does not mean that the signing of an agreement is imminent,” Al jazeera reports.

The focus of the negotiations is on ending the war, and at this stage we are not discussing the details of the nuclear issue, he said.

Iran’s top negotiator in talks with the US, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, has been re-elected as the country’s parliamentary speaker, AFP reports, citing Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency.

Iranian lawmaker Ebrahim Rezaei, a spokesperson for the parliament’s powerful foreign policy and national security committee, has put out a defiant statement amid efforts to reach a deal.

“During the military war, our tactic was an eye for an eye; in the diplomatic war, it is action against action,” Rezaei wrote on X

“Do not believe the bluff of the failed president; time is against the Americans. If they want an agreement, they should negotiate; if they want $6 gas, they should stand firm and bluff until the grass grows under their feet. Iran does not bow to force or threats.”

PM Shehbaz has also hailed Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of the Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir for his role in the mediation process.

Noting that CDF Munir had just returned from Tehran, PM Shehbaz said that the army chief “played a very important role back and forth with the Iranian leadership and the American leadership, along with Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar”.

“He didn’t want to miss this great visit, and he assured me that he will be joining me in this meeting, and he has been travelling throughout the night,” the premier said.