War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

Israel is taking into account the possibility of a future US demand for a gradual withdrawal of Israeli troops from areas in southern Lebanon, Anadolu reports citing Israel’s public broadcaster KAN.

KAN said a new round of talks between Israel and Lebanon is set to begin Tuesday to discuss initial arrangements for a possible Israeli troop withdrawal from southern Lebanon as part of a pilot program for the Lebanese army.

The talks are expected to take place under US mediation and with the participation of the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors alongside three Israeli brigadier generals, the broadcaster said.

Mahmoud Qamati, deputy head of Hezbollah’s political council, has warned that the Lebanese group will respond to any violation of the ceasefire by Israel, according to Iran’s Press TV.

Qamati said Hezbollah’s retaliation will come “in kind”, adding that there will not be a “return to the pre-war situation” when Israeli forces launched near-daily attacks on Lebanon even as the group’s fighters held their fire.

“Hezbollah remains fully alert with its finger on the trigger, ready to confront any violation by the Israeli regime,” he was quoted as saying.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian has said in comments linked to ongoing talks in Switzerland that the success of negotiations will depend on strict adherence to agreed commitments and their accurate implementation.

In a post on X, he emphasised that “the effectiveness of the talks depends on full commitment to the agreed obligations and their precise implementation.”

He further noted that “progress on this path will be measured by practical adherence to accepted responsibilities.”

Pezeshkian also cautioned that “statements outside the agreed text do not help advance the negotiations”.

Iran’s top negotiator Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met Omani Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi in Muscat.

They held constructive discussions on the recent Iran–US MoU, with particular focus on the Strait of Hormuz paragraph, Al Busaidi said in a post on X.

“We affirmed commitment to international law and toll-free safe passage,” he added.

Technical talks between Iran and the United States in Switzerland have concluded, with negotiating groups to be set up on nuclear issues and sanctions, Iran’s state media reported, according to AFP.

The negotiators “decided that four working groups would be established: Sanctions Termination, Nuclear Affairs, Reconstruction and Economic Development, and Monitoring and Implementation,” said IRNA state news agency, quoting Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi.

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric says that Sunday marked the first day that UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon “did not detect any trajectories or observe any interceptions” since fighting began between Israel and Hezbollah on March 2, Al Jazeera reports.

The “lack of activities” continued into Monday morning, Dujarric told reporters in New York.

“We welcome this reduction in hostilities, and we very much hope this trend continues for the sake of people on the ground,” he said.

Gold prices fall, pressured by a firmer US dollar on expectations of a Federal Reserve interest rate hike this year, while investors asses US-Iran peace talks.

Spot gold downs 0.7 per cent at $4,162.60 per ounce, as of 0228 GMT, after falling nearly 1pc earlier in the session. US gold futures for August delivery fall 0.5pc to $4,180.50.

“Gold had received some relief from lower oil prices this week, but it is getting no such favours from the US dollar, which continues to push higher on expectations of Fed rate hikes,” said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade.

Asian equities fluctuate following a tech-led sell-off on Wall Street as investors again questioned a long-running AI-fuelled boom, while crude largely held losses that came on the back of positive US-Iran talks, AFP reports.

Tech firms — the main driver of a surge across world markets as investors pile into all things AI — took a hit in Asia.

South Korean chip giants SK hynix and Samsung tumble to drag the Kospi index down more than three per cent, though it is still up more than 100pc since the turn of the year.

Tokyo was also in the red, with tech investment titan SoftBank shedding more than seven percent and chipmaker Tokyo Electron down.

Taipei and Shanghai were down, with Hong Kong and Sydney flat. Singapore, Wellington and Manila edged up.

The tepid performance followed a sharp drop on Wall Street, where the Nasdaq sank more than one percent as market giants Amazon, Nvidia and Microsoft were sharply down.

But the main victim of the day was Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which plunged more than 16pc — wiping hundreds of billions off its valuation — after a record IPO and a winning trio of opening trading sessions.

Democrats on the US House Foreign Affairs Committee have accused the US president of granting Iran sanctions relief before making progress on key issues under negotiation, including Tehran’s nuclear programme.

In a post on X, they said the Trump administration’s actions were “inconsistent with its own rhetoric about how it would approach any deal” with Iran.

“While ending this illegal war is better than disastrously doubling down, the admin’s steps are inconsistent with its own rhetoric about how it would approach any deal,” the post said. “Trump officials repeatedly said sanctions relief would be tied to Iran addressing its nuclear program and terrorist proxies. Neither has been addressed, but the regime has been gifted sweeping sanctions relief it has dreamed of for decades.”

United States President Donald Trump said “I will do what I have to do” if Iran does not stick to its agreement with Washington, Reuters reports.

“If Iran doesn’t live up to their agreement, or if they’re not behaving, I will do what I have to do,” Trump told reporters.

Trump also said Iran was supposed to use the money being unfrozen to buy food exclusively from the US, while Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency cited Iranian central bank governor Abdolnaser Hemmati saying that Tehran is under no obligation to purchase agricultural inputs from the US under the current memorandum of understanding.

“All that money’s coming back in the form of purchases of food which they desperately need. They have 91 million people, they can’t feed them. So, the money that we lift is going to go to our farmers,” Trump asserted.

Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said that the Strait of Hormuz will be administered by Tehran, state media reported, following talks pushing to end the US-Israeli war on the Islamic republic, AFP reports.

“The Strait of Hormuz will never return to its pre-war conditions and will be administered by the Islamic Republic of Iran, in accordance with international law,” Ghalibaf said on his return from the talks, according to IRNA.

In a video posted to Ghalibaf’s Telegram account, he said the talks at the luxury Swiss resort of Burgenstock produced “good achievements”.

“In my view, this trip had good achievements, especially regarding the discussion of the Strait, the Lebanon discussions, the question of oil waiver, and the matter of releasing the frozen funds,” he said.

Qatar’s PM and FM Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani has held separate phone calls with Turkiye’s FM Hakan Fidan and Egypt’s Badr Abdelatty.

Regional developments were among the matters they discussed, the Qatari foreign ministry said.

The Islamabad Police have said the entry of all types of heavy traffic into Islamabad has been closed from 12am, citing the arrival of a “foreign delegation”.

All entry routes to the Red Zone except Murree Road and Margalla Road will remain completely closed for all types of traffic, it said.

Diversions will be in place for traffic on the Expressway, Murree Road, and Club Road from Koral to Faizabad. Srinagar Highway will remain completely closed from Zero Point to Dhokri Chowk.

The police also shared an alternative traffic plan in case of road closures. Traffic coming and going to Zero Point from Faisal Avenue will be diverted towards 9th Avenue.

Qatar’s PM and FM Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani has held a telephone call with Saudi Arabia’s FM Prince Faisal bin Farhan.

During the call, they discussed bilateral cooperation relations and exchanged views on the latest regional developments, particularly diplomatic efforts to enhance security and stability in the region following the Islamabad MoU, Qatar said.

The premier reaffirmed Qatar’s full support for the ongoing negotiations between the US and Iran to “reach sustainable solutions to outstanding issues through dialogue and peaceful means, thereby strengthening regional security, opening new horizons for cooperation, development, and prosperity, and achieving the common interests of the peoples of the region and the world”.

Switzerland has welcomed the “constructive progress achieved through the intensive diplomatic exchanges held at the Bürgenstock between the United States, Iran, Pakistan and Qatar”.

It noted that the establishment of a high-level committee based on the MoU and the agreement on a roadmap towards a final agreement within 60 days are “positive steps that provide a framework for the next phase of the process and enable immediate technical discussions”.

Switzerland affirmed it “remains available, through its good offices, to support dialogue, de-escalation, regional stability and peace”.

US President JD Vance has said that Iranian assets would not be unfrozen “unless we continue to see progress” in the peace talks.

“And that will obviously be a big part of the negotiation in the days to come,” he added while speaking to reporters before departing Switzerland.

At the heart of the deal to end the Middle East war lies a $300 billion fund to rebuild and develop Iran – but so far it is unclear who will foot the bill.

The memorandum of understanding (MoU) says Washington “undertakes with regional partners to develop a definitive mutually agreed plan with at least $300 billion for the reconstruction and economic development” of Iran.

“The mechanism for the implementation of this plan will be finalised as part of a final deal within 60 days,” it added.

The text does not say who will contribute to the fund.

Gulf countries, divided over Iran in the aftermath of the war, have not confirmed they would invest in the scheme to rebuild their powerful neighbour.

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