War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei says the relevant institutions are meeting as they are in the “final stages of summarising the text of the memorandum of understanding (MoU)”, Al Jazeera reports.

Baghaei has said he cannot comment on the time and place of the possible MoU signing, adding that they must wait for the “final decision to be made internally”.

“I cannot confirm any of the speculations about the text of the understandings,” he explains, adding that the “fact that details of the diplomatic process cannot be discussed does not mean the people are not privy to it”.

Hezbollah claims it has carried out two drone strikes against Israeli army artillery positions in southern Lebanon, Al Jazeera reports.

The group has claimed on Telegram that its fighters targeted an artillery position at Tallet al-Hammas, south of the town of Khiam, and another at Mazraat Sarda, early this morning.

A proposed deal between the United States and Iran to end the Middle East war will also include Lebanon, AFP reports citing a senior US official.

“It includes Lebanon, it includes Iran, it includes the Gulf Coast countries, and includes Israel,” the senior administration official tells reporters on a call.

Switzerland has offered to host the possible signing of a peace agreement between the United States and Iran, the Swiss foreign ministry tells AFP.

“Switzerland is fully engaged. We are in close contact with the United States and Iran,” the ministry says in a brief message sent to AFP.

The Swiss foreign ministry adds that it is playing an active role “to support efforts toward a memorandum of understanding intended to consolidate the truce and pave the way for de-escalation in the context of the conflict between Iran and the USA”.

In addition, the ministry states it “has proposed Switzerland as the venue for a possible signing, should the parties agree to it”.

The United States and Iran are not quite at the finish line, but are very close to a deal to resolve their conflict, Reuters reports citing a senior US official.

“The negotiating team has got us in a very good spot, but let’s see here, we’re not quite at the finish line yet, but we are very close,” the US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, tells reporters.

They add that the terms agreed upon accomplish US President Donald Trump’s core objectives and “get it in a very, very good place at the end of it”.

Iran’s highly enriched uranium would also be destroyed on site and then taken out of the country, the official says.

“The Iranians don’t get anything upon the signing of the MOU or upon the negotiation itself,” the official explains. “They get rewarded economically for complying with their obligations under the deal.

“So if they turn over the nuclear material as promised, they’ll get something. If they dismantle their nuclear program or their nuclear facilities, they’ll get something else.”

The United States is “80 to 85 per cent” confident of signing a peace deal with Iran in the coming days, a senior official in President Donald Trump’s administration says, according to AFP.

“We do expect us to be signing this agreement over the next few days. I can’t give you an exact date,” the senior official has told reporters in a call, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“If I were to give you a confidence that we were going to be signing this agreement, I maybe would have said 75pc this morning, it’s probably more like 80-85pc now, but it’s not 100pc. “

The Strait of Hormuz will open and the US will lift its blockade on Iranian ports as a part of the terms that Washington and Tehran have agreed to, Reuters reports citing a senior US official.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has confirmed that “a final, agreed-upon text of the peace deal” between the US and Iran has been reached.

“Amid ongoing intense mediation efforts by Pakistan, we are fully aware of [an] incessant misinformation campaign being waged by those who want to sabotage the peace deal,” he says on X.

“Pakistan is now working closely with both sides to finalise the next steps. Peace has never been this close as it is now.”

With Iran’s foreign ministry saying “the main part of the text was almost finalised”, US Congressman Ryan Zinke notes that “the devil’s in the details”.

“How is verification going to take place? Who is going to be the verifying body?” Zinke tells Al Jazeera, referring to the verification of Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium.

“So I think Iran was right that nothing’s been signed. It was correct,” he says, adding, however, that the two sides appear “closer to a deal than ever”.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar has spoken with Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis, where the two top diplomats exchanged views on the regional situation and welcomed the “encouraging progress” toward an agreement between the United States and Iran.

“The Swiss Foreign Minister appreciated Pakistan’s leading mediating role in supporting diplomatic engagement and its efforts in helping advance progress towards peace and stability in the region and beyond,” the Foreign Office says on X, adding that both sides have agreed to remain closely engaged.

Al Jazeera correspondents are reporting that an Israeli air strike has hit al-Qasiba, a town in southern Lebanon.

Separately, the Israeli military says air sirens have sounded in several areas in northern Israel after the infiltration of a drone.

Iran will never pursue nuclear weapons, but its military maintains absolute dominance over the Strait of Hormuz, Al Jazeera reports quoting a senior official in the Iranian military.

“Today, our power is dominant in the Strait of Hormuz region, meaning no vessel can enter without our permission,” says Admiral Habibollah Sayyari.

Speaking to state news agency IRNA, Sayyari adds that Iranian forces remain on high alert.

“Our hand is on the trigger, and we do not fear for our lives.”

Hezbollah claims it has launched rocket salvoes against the Israeli military in southern Lebanon, Al Jazeera.

In statements on Telegram, the Lebanese group said its fighters targeted concentrations of Israeli army vehicles and soldiers in the towns of al-Qawzah and Rashaf.

Qatar has refuted a story by The Washington Post alleging it coordinated with Iran on a “secret deal” to protect energy production sites from attack, Al Jazeera reports.

Qatar’s International Media Office has dismissed the allegations as “entirely unfounded”, adding they are “particularly implausible given that Qatar was actively defending its territory against Iranian missile attacks at the time”.

“The allegations rely on false and unreliable material originating from actors whose objective is to sabotage ongoing efforts to mediate an end to the conflict, damage Qatar’s reputation and undermine the strategic partnership between Qatar and the United States,” the statement reads.

Us Vice President JD Vance has taken note of speculation surrounding a potential memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran, providing some clarification on the possible agreement and dispelling “fake information”.

“First, the Iranians are not receiving any cash, and no funds are being released for simply signing a deal or attending a meeting,” he writes on X.

“The deal is structured to ensure that the US and its allies’ concerns are prioritised, and that if the Islamic Republic of Iran meets its obligations, then economic benefits will flow to them and to the entire region.”

He adds, “This deal has the potential to remake the region and lead to lasting peace.”

Vance notes “a couple of bizarre things” in reporting on the potential deal, noting that commentators who dubbed US President Donald Trump as “historic” were “criticising a deal based on unconfirmed media reports”.

“Second, people who say you can’t trust a word said by the IRGC, who apparently believe anonymously sourced social media posts,” he adds. “The president is going to get us a good outcome, one way or the other.”

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz says on X the country must ensure that “in the future as well, we will have the ability to act independently to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and I have instructed the IDF (Israeli military) to prepare accordingly”.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says a memorandum of understanding with the US “has never been closer”, but has urged the media to refrain from speculating about its contents.

“In line with our responsible and transparent approach, all details will be shared with the public in due course,” he says in a post on X.

An unnamed source close to Iran’s negotiating team has dismissed news reports that a deal is ready to be signed in Geneva on Sunday as “a complete lie”, Al Jazeera reports citing the semi-official Fars news agency.

“The claims by Trump and some foreign media outlets that the agreement has been finalised and is scheduled to be signed in Geneva on Sunday are completely untrue,” the source tells Fars.

Iran’s internal review and decision-making process has not yet been completed, the source adds.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz says that the country’s military will not leave security zones in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza, stating that Tel Aviv takes action “against both near and distant threats and strive for decisive outcomes rather than compromises and concessions”.

“The IDF will continue to defend our borders and our citizens from the peak of Mount Hermon, the mountains of Lebanon, the areas of our land in the Samaria region, and most of the territory of Gaza—against the threats posed by jihadist forces and organisations, as a central lesson from the events of October 7,” he says in a post on X.

Katz adds that US President Donald Trump is negotiating with Iran out of its own interests, as well as shared interests with Israel, such as Iran agreeing to never possess a nuclear weapon.

“We expect him to uphold this principle and additional principles in the realm of missiles and terrorist proxies,” he says.

Iran has agreed to dismantle its nuclear programme and destroy nuclear material under a deal with the United States, a White House official tells AFP, as the two sides give clashing accounts of the agreement.

Roughly 7 million barrels a day of oil is getting out of the Persian Gulf with US military help, Energy Secretary Chris Wright has said at an event in Houston, according to Reuters.

“No Iranian crude is getting out of the Strait of Hormuz,” Wright says, adding that he expects to see the free flow of all products through the Persian Gulf if a deal is agreed.

“If no deal is reached, the US military will restore the flow,” Wright adds.

US stocks are mostly lower as markets digest mixed signals on Middle East peace prospects, AFP reports.

While US President Donald Trump claims Iran had approved a final deal to end the war, Iran’s comments conditioning an agreement on its ability to enrich uranium suggest a more uncertain dynamic.

“It’s very difficult to know what’s going on,” Steve Sosnick of Interactive Brokers says, pointing to numerous earlier occasions when US officials signalled an agreement that never came to pass.

About 10 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat at 50,858.98. The broad-based S&P 500 slipped 0.2 per cent to 7,380.09, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.3pc to 25,724.16.