The US and Israel on Feb 28 launched what they described as a “pre-emptive” joint strike against Iranian targets, with Trump announcing start of “major combat operations”
Pakistan hosted the first round of face-to-face talks between the US and Iran in 47 years in April; the talks ended without a breakthrough, but also without a breakdown
Islamabad stays in frame for hosting US-Iran deal signing ceremony
Israel’s defence minister says there would be “no calm in Beirut” if Hezbollah attacks continue and vows to establish a military-controlled zone in the area of south Lebanon’s Litani River, AFP reports.
“The Dahiyeh in Beirut is no different from the communities in northern Israel — if there is no calm in the north, there will be no calm in Beirut,” Israel Katz said in a statement released by his office.
“At the same time, the IDF continues to operate with fire and manoeuvre against Hezbollah terrorists and infrastructure in Lebanon… in order to push threats away from IDF forces and from the residents of the State of Israel, and to turn the Litani area into a zone under IDF security control, free of weapons and terrorists,” Katz added.
Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf says that the continued aggression in Lebanon by Israel and the US naval blockade is “clear evidence” that the US is not complying with the ceasefire.
In a post on X, he said, “The naval blockade and escalation of war crimes in Lebanon by the genocidal Zionist regime are clear evidence of US noncompliance with the ceasefire”.
“Every choice has a price, and the bill comes due. It will all fall into place,” he wrote.
Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar says Pakistan will continue to work towards finding a “comprehensive and lasting solution” to the US-Iran conflict.
Addressing a joint press conference with the EU’s Kaja Kallas, Dar expressed appreciation for the EU’s “appreciation and support” to Pakistan’s efforts in the US-Iran conflict.
“We are humbled by the recognition of our efforts and will continue to work towards finding a comprehensive and lasting solution to the conflict,” Dar told Kallas.
French President Emmanuel Macron says he spoke to US President Donald Trump last night about the Middle East situation.
“I commended the determined efforts he is leading to quickly reach an agreement between the United States and Iran, which represents a unique opportunity to build a new security framework involving all concerned parties, in order to enable a lasting stabilisation of the region,” Macron wrote on X.
He said France was “ready to fully support these efforts and to take our full part in their implementation”.
Macron added: “This is the purpose of the international mission that we have built with the British and our partners, ready to be deployed as soon as an agreement is concluded in order to contribute to securing maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.
“We are also prepared to bring our expertise and capabilities to the broader negotiations that must open, particularly on the nuclear aspect of an agreement.”
He also commended Trump’s “commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Lebanon, and emphasised the importance of a robust ceasefire and our collective support for the Lebanese authorities”.
India’s top carmaker Maruti Suzuki said that bookings for its vehicles that run on compressed natural gas have risen about 40 per cent since the country raised fuel prices, Reuters reports.
State-owned fuel retailers in India increased diesel and petrol prices at least four times in May to recoup some losses driven by higher crude costs due to the Iran war.
Addressing a press conference, the EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas said that she and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar exchanged views on pressing global developments, including those in the Middle East, during their meeting.
“With your support, there is now a tenuous diplomatic opening to extend the ceasefire and reopen the Strait of Hormuz,” she said of Pakistan’s mediation efforts.
She added, however, that any temporary understanding between the US and Iran must be followed by deeper talks about Tehran’s nuclear stockpile and other issues. She expressed that the EU was “ready to contribute to a sustainable and peaceful solution”, bringing “economic leverage, hard-won nuclear expertise, longstanding relationships with partners across the Gulf and direct engagement with Iran itself”.
“I see a great role for the EU in helping to make any eventual agreement durable,” she added.
Supertanker Agios Fanourios I, carrying nearly two million barrels of Iraqi crude oil, has arrived at the port of Vietnam’s largest refinery, Vietnam’s state energy firm said, according to Reuters.
The cargo of Basrah Medium, which earlier passed the Strait of Hormuz, is for the operations of Nghi Son Refinery, Petrovietnam said in a statement
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi says Iran and Oman are the only two countries that have a right to “exercise sovereignty” in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Al Jazeera.
In comments carried by Iran’s IRIB broadcaster, Gharibabadi said Iran has implemented a new process for “controlling traffic and navigation” in the waterway but arrangements are coordinated with Oman.
Kuwait’s Foreign Ministry has expressed its “strong condemnation and denunciation of the continued escalation” by Israeli forces in Lebanon, Al Jazeera reports.
The ministry affirmed Kuwait’s “steadfast and supportive stance toward Lebanon’s unity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity, calling for an immediate halt to this escalation, the withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces from all Lebanese territories, and full compliance with the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701 and all other relevant international resolutions,” it said in a statement, adding that the international community and the UNSC must “fulfil their responsibilities in stopping these violations”.
The statement comes shortly after Kuwait reported “hostile” missile and drone attacks as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it launched a retaliatory strike on a base it claimed was used for an attack on its Sirik Island.
The Lebanese group says its fighters targeted infrastructure belonging to the Israeli army in the northern Israeli city of Tiberias this morning, Al Jazeera reports.
In a statement, the group said the missile attack came in defence of Lebanon and in response to Israel’s violation of the ceasefire.
EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas has commended Deputy PM and FM Dar on “facilitating the talks between the US and Iran”.
“It is a conflict that is having an impact on everybody and the world when it comes to the energy prices, prices of fertilisers, and so this is really what we need to see — the ceasefire really holding and the talks continuing,” she said in her remarks before a strategic dialogue with Pakistan.
She added: “We have this contested geopolitical environment, rising tensions everywhere and real risk of escalation and like we were discussing, we also share the priorities when it comes to the rules-based international order that we need to develop further.
“We are working towards global and regional stability, which is in both of our interests. We also promote free and fair trade and investment, and advance sustainable connectivity.”
An Israeli drone strike has directly hit a car on a highway near the Lebanese municipality of Zefta, killing its driver and injuring another person, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA).
Lebanese civil defence members gather near a building, destroyed by an Israeli air strike.—Reuters/File
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baqaei has said that no negotiations have taken place at this stage with the US on the nuclear issue, AFP and Tasnim report.
A senior Iranian official denied Sunday reports claiming that President Masoud Pezeshkian had resigned, Anadolu reports.
In a post on X, Presidential Office Deputy Head of Communications Mehdi Tabatabaei dismissed the reports about Pezeshkian’s resignation as “false,” calling them a continuation of “media games” of certain foreign outlets.
“Pezeshkian would not back down from serving the Iranian people,” he said, stressing that Iran “would not retreat from the path of unity and solidarity.”
Tabatabaei added that those seeking to undermine Iran’s national unity would once again “take that wish to the grave,” rejecting speculation about divisions within the country.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Dr Kazem Gharibabadi has said that the “process of ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz by Iran is not a temporary process and Iran will not back down from it”.
Iran’s foreign ministry has said that the United States continues to violate the ceasefire, after US strikes on a southern port triggered a brief military flare-up, AFP reports.
“The United States is also violating the ceasefire including this morning,” said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei in a weekly press briefing, vowing that Iran will “take whatever measures we deem necessary to defend Iran’s national security”.
Iran’s foreign ministry said that a ceasefire in Lebanon remains a key condition for a deal with the United States, AFP reports.
“We insist that a ceasefire in Lebanon is an essential condition for any deal aimed at ending the war,” said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei in a weekly press briefing, as Israel expands its offensive in Lebanon.
Ongoing Israeli attacks in Lebanon have resulted in at least six deaths across the country, Al Jazeera reports, citing the National News Agency.
It says two people were killed in an Israeli drone attack in the southern town of Braiqaa, while another person – a Syrian national – was killed in the nearby town of Toul.
Three others were killed in overnight attacks in the town of Kfarsir, located north of the Litani River, according to NNA.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei has said that the European Union’s (EU) statement blaming Iran for “exercising its right to self-defense against US aggression launched from bases in neighboring countries is a masterclass in selective moral outrage; it is hypocritical and reckless”.
“The EU must remain faithful to the rule of law and the principles of the UN Charter that it has long claimed to uphold. It must stop appeasing aggressors while blaming those who respond to unlawful attacks,” he said.
“Iran’s strikes against those bases and assets that are used to launch unlawful attacks against Iran are a lawful exercise of self-defense. States have an established legal obligation not to allow their territory or assets to be used for invading other countries,” he said.
Israel’s military has issued warnings of imminent attacks for the Lebanese towns of Mlikh and Kfarhounah, telling their residents to immediately flee their homes, Al Jazeera reports.
In an Arabic-language post on social media, the Israeli military warned it would soon “act forcefully” in the areas against Hezbollah.
It said residents of the two towns should “immediately evacuate” their homes and “move at least 1,000 metres [0.6 miles] away from the villages and towns to open areas”.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said that his country was facing “a vicious and reprehensible Israeli aggression”, after Israel stepped up its offensive against Hezbollah with the capture of the medieval Beaufort Castle, AFP reports.
Aoun condemned the Israeli offensive in a post on X and pledged to “work to end the suffering of the Lebanese people, and people in the south in particular”.
On Monday, the UN Security Council is set to hold an emergency meeting on Lebanon, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the castle’s seizure marked a “dramatic shift” in the fighting.
The UN Security Council is set to hold an emergency meeting today on the fighting in Lebanon after Israel’s military took over the medieval castle of Beaufort in Lebanese territory, diplomatic sources tell AFP.
Diplomatic sources told AFP that the United Nations Security Council would hold an emergency meeting over Israel’s expansion of its offensive in the country.
The meeting was requested by France, whose President Emmanuel Macron said “nothing justifies the major escalation under way in south Lebanon”, calling for an end to fighting.
A senior US official told AFP yesterday that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the ongoing diplomatic negotiations and asserted that Hezbollah must be the first to cease its attacks.
