War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

US President Donald Trump has finished a meeting during which he said would make a “final determination” on an Iran peace deal, a White House official tells AFP.

The official would not say if Trump had reached a decision on the deal with Tehran during the gathering in the high security White House Situation Room.

Iranian authorities are laying the groundwork for a “grand” funeral for slain supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, official media reports according to AFP, following a lengthy postponement due to Iran’s war with the United States and Israel.

Though the timing was still uncertain, “a special headquarters has been formed to prepare for the funeral ceremony, and various agencies are currently planning and making arrangements”, state TV reported, citing Mohsen Mahmoudi, head of the Tehran Coordination Council for Islamic Propaganda.

An event paying tribute to Khamenei was organised in April, but a state funeral that was initially announced could not be held because of the war.

State TV, citing Mahmoudi, said “different organisations are working to provide the necessary conditions so that, once officially announced, a ‘grand’ ceremony can be held”, adding “widespread attendance” was expected.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Friday that Pakistan remained firmly committed to its longstanding position on Palestine and Gaza and that there could be no change in Islamabad’s stance towards Israel without the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

He said this during a press conference at Pakistan’s embassy in Washington after a meeting with Rubio. Dar’s statement was in response to a question about US President Donald Trump urging Muslim countries to join the Abraham Accords as part of a deal with Iran.

In his response to the question, Dar also said he had reiterated Pakistan’s position during his engagements at the United Nations earlier this week.

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The heads of the International Energy Agency, International Monetary Fund, World Bank Group and the World Trade Organisation met yesterday to discuss their institutions’ response to the impacts of the war in the Middle East, they have said in a joint statement today according to Reuters.

“If shipping flows do not return to normal, continued rapid depletion of global oil inventories ahead of peak summer oil demand in the Northern Hemisphere would present increasing risks for fuel security, market conditions, and broader economic resilience,” the institutions said, referring to the blockade in the Strait of Hormuz.

The institutions also explored options to “further enhance collective support through multilateral and bilateral actions”, it added.

Al Jazeera reports that Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei has responded to Trump’s claim that the US would lift its naval blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, saying this would put an end to what was an illegal action from the beginning.

“We need to see whether in practice they will actually follow through on their words or if it’s merely a propaganda claim,” he said.

Baqaei added that, since the waterway is located in Iranian and Omani territorial waters, the two countries must “adopt a mechanism” that protects their safety and national interests, while enabling international trade.

Lebanon’s official National News Agency says the death toll from an earlier Israeli strike on the southern town of Adloun has risen to at least eight, according to Al Jazeera.

The agency reported that an Israeli raid on the al-Hartiya area, on the outskirts of Adloun, killed eight Syrian nationals, including children.

The updated toll comes as rescue teams continue to search the area following the attack.

Iran’s foreign ministry says that there are “no negotiations” taking place on its nuclear programme, after US President Donald Trump suggested it would relinquish its enriched uranium under a deal to end the Middle East war, AFP reports.

“At this stage, we are focused on ending the war, and there are no negotiations on the nuclear issue,” ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told state TV.

Iran’s foreign ministry says that there is still “no final agreement” with the United States to end the Middle East war, after US President Donald Trump said he was making his decision on a potential deal, AFP reports.

“Regarding the understanding, as I said while speaking to you, exchanges of messages are continuing, but no final agreement has been reached yet,” ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told state media.

The Israeli military has struck the town of Zefta, in southern Lebanon, NNA has reported according to Al Jazeera, after Israel issued yet another displacement threat calling on residents to flee their homes.

According to the state-run news agency, the strike destroyed a two-storey building. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Lebanon’s official National News Agency says Civil Defence teams have recovered four bodies, including children, after an Israeli air strike hit a house in the southern town of Adloun, according to Al Jazeera.

Rescue crews are continuing to search through the rubble for others believed to be trapped under the debris, the agency reported.

Iran’s Fars news agency has cited “informed sources” as saying the latest comments by US President Donald Trump about a potential deal to end the Middle East war were a “mixture of truth and lies”, Reuters has reported.

“Trump claimed that Iran was obligated to open the Strait of Hormuz without tolls, even though no such clause appears in the next of the agreement,” the agency said.

On Trump’s assertion that Washington and Tehran would coordinate on destroying Iran’s enriched uranium, it added: “Well-informed sources emphasised that not only does this not appear in the memorandum of understanding, but this claim is fundamentally baseless. “

A senior Iranian source said the same to Reuters, and stated that a political understanding has been reached between Iran and the US over the Iran war, but it has not yet been finalised.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar says that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has “appreciated” Pakistan’s role in facilitating US-Iran negotiations.

“We had a very cordial meeting,” he added while addressing a press conference.

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi has slammed Israel’s “punishment” of United Nations chief Antonio Guterres by breaking all contact.

In a post on X, he termed the move “a sign of the same dangerous pattern: evading accountability by attacking international institutions”.

“Conflict-related sexual violence, attacks against civilians, and ceasefire violations should be pursued within the framework of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and international responsibility,” he said.

US Central Command (Centcom) says that the naval blockade of Iran has continued to be enforced.

“As of May 29, 115 commercial vessels have been redirected to ensure no commerce enters or leaves Iranian ports,” it said in a post on X.

Israel’s military has issued another displacement threat in Lebanon, telling residents of the town of Zefta to immediately flee their homes, Al Jazeera reports.

In an Arabic-language social media post, the Israeli military said residents of the town should immediately move north of the Zahrani River, saying Israeli forces would soon “act forcefully” in the area against Hezbollah.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar met US Secretary of State and National Security Adviser Marco Rubio on Friday, and the two leaders also participated in a photo opportunity before the talks.

A joint statement is expected later in the day, while Dar is also scheduled to address a press conference.

He reached Washington for the meeting earlier in the day, the Foreign Office (FO) said.

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Kazakhstan has signalled it is willing to take Tehran’s stockpile of uranium enriched close to weapons-grade levels if the US reaches a deal with Iran over its nuclear programme, the head of UN’s nuclear watchdog has told the Financial Times according to Reuters.

The central Asian state expressed its openness to keeping the stockpile when Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev met International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi in Astana this week, Grossi told the newspaper in an interview published today.

Kazakhstan hosts an internationally-controlled bank of low-enriched uranium to ensure fuel supplies for power stations in IAEA member states and prevent nuclear proliferation. The storage facility was opened in 2017 in collaboration with the IAEA.

Iran’s top diplomat Abbas Araghchi told his Omani counterpart that reaching a deal with the United States to end the Middle East war depended on Washington dropping its “excessive demands”, Tehran’s foreign ministry says according to AFP.

“The Iranian minister of foreign affairs… indicated that arriving at a final agreement depended on ending the American party’s attitude based on excessive demands and shifting and contradictory positions,” the ministry said in a summary of a call between the ministers.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump has listed his demands regarding a peace deal with Iran.

“Iran must agree that they will never have a Nuclear Weapon or Bomb,” he stated, along with assertions that the Strait of Hormuz is to be “immediately open, no tolls” and all mines to be terminated.

He added that ships caught in the strait “due to our amazing and unprecedented Naval Blockade, which will now be lifted, may start the process of ‘heading home!’”

Trump also called for the unearthing and destruction of enriched material in coordination with Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

“Other items, of far less importance, have been agreed to,” he added.

US President Donald Trump says he is now making a “final” decision on whether or not to strike a peace deal with Iran.

“I will be meeting now, in the Situation Room, to make a final determination,” Trump said in a lengthy social media post, stressing that Iran must agree never to have nuclear weapons and to open the Hormuz shipping lanes.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has told US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that a ceasefire with Israel is crucial, as Israeli and Lebanese military delegations meet at the Pentagon, Al Jazeera reports.

A statement from Aoun’s office said that during a phone call, the president “emphasised the need to exert all efforts to reach a ceasefire, considering it an essential gateway to moving on to any other step”.

Rubio reiterated the US administration’s commitment to consolidate the outcomes of previous ambassador-level negotiations meetings in Washington between Israel and Lebanon, and expressed his support for Lebanon’s stability, independence and sovereignty, the statement added.

Milan prosecutors have placed two Iranians living in Italy under investigation and ordered their homes to be searched over alleged threats to compatriots opposed to the Tehran government, judicial documents shows according to Reuters.

According to a nine-page search warrant seen by Reuters, prosecutors suspect the two people of aggravated threats and association for the purpose of terrorism and subversion of democracy.

The case stems from complaints filed by several Iranian citizens living in Italy. In one case cited in the warrant, an Iranian dissident told investigators she had received a phone call telling her she had been sentenced to death for being an opposition supporter and would have her assets in Iran confiscated.

One of the two suspects had an Instagram profile from which death threats were made against anyone hoping for the accession to power of Reza Pahlavi — the exiled son of Iran’s former Shah — the warrant showed.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has held a call with his Omani counterpart Badr Albusaidi, where he “expressed Iran’s solidarity with Oman in face of any threat”.

In a post on X, he said that the two discussed the future administration of the Strait of Hormuz in line with sovereign responsibilities and international law.

“We welcome consultation with all neighboring states,” Araghchi added.