War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

Iran’s main problem in negotiating with the United States is Washington’s “changing and contradictory positions”, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei tells CNN.

Speaking with the US broadcaster’s senior international correspondent Frederik Pleitgen in Tehran, Baghaei says the exchange of messages continues through Pakistani mediators.

“The main problem of negotiating with this administration is that you have to face so many changing positions, moving the goalposts, different statements, contradictory remarks by different officials, so it makes the whole process very cumbersome,” Baghaei says.

There are quite a number of sticking points, he adds, “but the main issue is that the Americans must understand that they have to recognise Iran’s rights,” including its right to peaceful nuclear enrichment under the international non-proliferation treaty.

“At the same time, when they are talking about our blocked assets they’re not going to give us any concession,” Baghaei says.

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Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has discussed bilateral relations and the state of the US-Iran peace process during a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, according to the Iranian government.

“During the meeting, alongside reviewing bilateral relations, both sides exchanged views on the latest status of the ongoing diplomatic process mediated by Pakistan to end the imposed US-Zionist war against Iran,“ it says in a post on X.

The Israeli army has announced its latest forced evacuation orders for residents living in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre, Al Jazeera reports.

In a post on X, a spokesman said the urgent warning also applied to the surrounding neighbourhoods of Tyre, specifically the camps al-Bas and Zakuk al-Mufdi.

“You must evacuate your homes immediately and move north of the Zahrani River,” the message said.

Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese people have been forced from their homes in southern Lebanon by Israel’s air strikes and ground invasion since March 2.

Iran’s ambassador to Russia says global energy security is currently largely determined by countries of the Global South, particularly Brics members, Al Jazeera reports citing remarks carried by Iranian state media.

Speaking at a gathering on energy cooperation and security within the Brics framework, Kazem Jalali has called on the bloc to help shape a fairer and more stable energy order.

Jalali says geopolitical tensions, supply chain disruptions, global market volatility and rising demand in emerging economies have made energy security a cornerstone of global stability and development.

He adds that energy security goes beyond access to resources and encompasses the security of supply, demand, investment, technology, infrastructure, and finance.

“The extensive capacities of Brics member states entail shared responsibilities, and these countries must play a role in shaping a more just, stable, and inclusive global energy security system,” Jalali states.

Israeli air strikes targeted a motorcycle on Zifta Road in the Nabatieh district, killing one person in southern Lebanon, Al Jazeera reports.

Warplanes also launched two attacks and destroyed a house in Ghamiqah neighbourhood in the town of Duwair, while the city of Nabatieh was also targeted, the National News Agency reported.

Another motorcycle was attacked by a drone on Wata Abba Road between the towns of Abba and Duwair, killing two Syrians and wounding another.

An Israeli drone also carried out an air raid on the town of al-Kafour, it said.

Fourteen weeks after President Donald Trump ordered an attack on Iran, the US military is adjusting to an unusual state of conflict that is not full-scale war, but also far from peace, Reuters reports.

On ships and bases in the Middle East, US troops, some recovering from injuries, operate amid exchanges of fire with Iran every few days as the Navy blocks Iran’s ports. At home, the Pentagon is scrambling to bolster production of depleted munitions as families of service members cope with the stress of extended deployments.

The threat requires US troops to maintain an acute state of readiness.

“To maintain this constant state of ‘Level 10’ alert vigilance, to be ready to go at the drop of a hat, is a very stressful and difficult operational mission,” said one US official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Joseph Votel, the former commander of the US military’s Central Command, described the current conflict phase as “a very, very dangerous period for us.” He said keeping troops ready during the ceasefire is no small challenge.

“It puts on a lot of pressure on leaders to make sure that people are still at their edge,” Votel said.

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The enormous costs of Israel’s multi-front war and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s determination to turn his country into a “super-Sparta” of the Middle East are driving up the defence budget and raising fears of cutbacks in education and healthcare.

The total cost of the series of interconnected regional conflicts that began with Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 stood at 405 billion shekels ($138bn) as of late April, according to the governor of the Bank of Israel, Amir Yaron.

“That’s a huge figure, more than 17 per cent of GDP,” he said during a recent economic conference in Herzliya, north of Tel Aviv.

Following the adoption of the 2026 budget in late March, the government noted the defence ministry’s budget had more than doubled since October 2023. To support the war effort, the government borrowed heavily on international markets in 2024 and 2025.

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Israeli warplanes have attacked the town of Srifa in the Tyre district, whil local media has reported that Israeli fighter jets attacked Dweir, near Nabatieh, north of the Litani River, according to Al Jazeera.

During his visit to Tehran, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has delivered a letter from Pakistan to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, according to the Fars news agency.

Naqvi handed the letter to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi during their meeting.

Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon have continued overnight and into the early hours of this morning, Al Jazeera reports citing Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA).

These include air attacks on the town of Qalawiya at dawn, and on the towns of al-Qatrani, Byblos and Rihan in the Jezzine district overnight. The town of Deir Kifa in the Tyre district was also struck, while Barashit and Chaqra in the same district were subjected to intermittent artillery shelling overnight.

NNA also reports artillery shelling in the towns of al-Mansouri and Bayt al-Sayyad in the Tyre district.

Iranian First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref says all senior officials are fully aligned on Iran’s negotiating strategy, dismissing the possibility of differences over the text or proposals under discussion, state broadcaster Press TV reports.

Speaking during a visit to the Iranian Customs Administration, Aref says Tehran has pursued a clear and coordinated approach in negotiations with the US.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has had a specific strategy in the negotiations, and all officials have pursued it with complete coordination,” he states, adding that officials have “no differences regarding the text and proposals of the negotiations.”

Aref also highlights that Iran has gained valuable lessons in crisis management during the current war, as well as a 12-day conflict with Israel last year.

The Israeli military claims it intercepted two projectiles that crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory, after sirens sounded in the areas of Yiftah and Ramot Naftali, Reuters reports.

While a peace agreement remains elusive on the 100th day since the US and Israel first launched strikes on Iran on February 28, Washington and Tehran have appeared to come close to a deal on several occasions, according to Al Jazeera.

The war began with the joint Operation Epic Fury waged by the US and Israel at the end of February. Iran retaliated by attacking Israel and US military assets in the Gulf.

Armed hostilities largely subsided after the temporary Pakistan-mediated ceasefire began on April 8. Direct talks in Islamabad fell apart on April 12, and the two sides have exchanged a series of proposals for peace via Pakistan since then.

However, several flare-ups since have escalated fears that full‑scale fighting could resume.

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The Israeli military says four of its reserve soldiers were moderately injured in a drone attack in southern Lebanon, according to the Israeli Broadcasting Authority, Al Jazeera reports.

The report came a day after the Israeli military announced the deaths of two soldiers in battle in southern Lebanon.

According to AFP, at least 29 Israeli soldiers and one contractor have been killed since hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel resumed on March 2.

Recent US intelligence reports have raised concerns about Israeli spy agencies eavesdropping on American negotiators working on a peace deal with Iran, amid rising concern over a more general counterintelligence threat by Israel, the New York Times reports.

It noted that while Israel and the US have “long known, and tolerated, that each was spying on the other”, some American officials say that an intensified Israeli effort to learn about US positions in talks with Iran has crossed a line.

The reports include concerns that Israel has stepped up its efforts to eavesdrop on senior American officials, including Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s top negotiator, Elbridge A. Colby, the Pentagon’s top policy official, and one of his main deputies, Michael P. DiMino IV.

Another report, written by the Defence Intelligence Agency and other military intelligence offices, said that the counterintelligence threat level posed by Israel had been increased in recent weeks to the top level, from high to critical.

The US-Israel war on Iran does not meet the standards for a “just war” in Catholic teaching, Pope Leo reiterates during a visit to the Spanish capital, Madrid, according to Al Jazeera.

“I believe this has already been made very clear: In Iran, the criteria for a just war are not present,” the head of the Catholic Church said, responding to a reporter.

“The theory of the just war dates back to centuries when it was impossible to imagine the weapons and the destructive capacity available to humanity today.”

The pontiff’s comments follow an earlier dispute with US Vice President JD Vance, who defended the war as a “just war”, a characterisation Pope Leo rejected.

The Palestinian foreign ministry has condemned Iran’s recent attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait, in which several ballistic missiles were launched and intercepted, Al Jazeera reports.

The ministry said this aggression was “an escalation in threatening security and stability in the Arabian Gulf region, and a direct assault on their security and safety”, further citing the “blatant breach of the provisions of the United Nations Charter, international law, and international norms”.

The ministry expressed Palestine’s “full solidarity” with Bahrain and Kuwait and its support “for all legitimate measures they take to protect their sovereignty, security, and stability”.

Jordan’s foreign ministry has called for an immediate halt to Israel’s attacks on Lebanon and described the deadly assault on the Lebanese military convoy as “a blatant violation of the sovereignty, security, and stability” of the country, Al Jazeera reports.

Fouad Majali, a spokesperson for the Jordanian foreign ministry, sent condolences to Lebanon’s government and the families of the victims and reiterated Amman’s “unwavering support” for the country, according to the official Petra news agency.

Majali “also stressed Jordan’s support for the Lebanese government’s efforts to assert its sovereignty over all Lebanese territory, reactivate its national institutions, and ensure that weapons are solely in the hands of the state”, the agency reported.

Opec+ ministers are to meet today to weigh higher production quotas in a bid to cap oil prices that have surged since the Iran war effectively choked off Gulf crude shipments, AFP reports.

But even if the cartel members vow to ramp up output by thousands of barrels per day, analysts say geopolitical realities mean they probably won’t move the needle on prices.

Ministers from the 21 member states of Opec+, the main oil-producing nations and their allies, are holding their quarterly meeting online.

The group is likely to beef up its production quotas by “188,000 barrels a day”, said Jorge Leon, analyst at Rystad Energy, similar to recent increases.

But in reality, only seven members — Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman — have the capacity to do so.

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Etihad Airways is ordering more widebody planes as the Middle East carrier expects to be flying about 8pc more than a year ago by June 15, CEO Antonoaldo Neves said in an interview, Reuters reports.

He said on the sidelines of a global gathering of airline CEOs in Brazil on Saturday that the Abu Dhabi carrier is buying widebody planes in the double digits, declining to specify further.

Etihad is restoring flights after making cuts in March as the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran turned regional, raising fuel prices, Neves said.

He said Etihad does not plan to trim costs by cutting flights at the moment.

“The biggest cost we have is an empty plane,” he said. “So the way I cut cost is I don’t have empty planes.”

Hezbollah says its fighters have attacked an Israeli Merkava tank on the outskirts of the town of Haddatha as well as soldiers near the town of Yohmor al-Shaqif, Al Jazeera reports.

The latest attacks came after Hezbollah claimed to have launched at least 25 operations against Israeli troops and sites yesterday.

The group said it was committed to defending Lebanon and its people, adding that “this is the least that can be done to deter” Israel and prevent it from “pursuing its dangerous objectives” against the country.

Hezbollah claims it has attacked a “command headquarters” belonging to the Israeli military in the Lebanese town of Naqoura with Ababil drones, Al Jazeera reports.

It also said its fighters targeted a group of Israeli soldiers on the southern outskirts of the town of Haddatha with two Ababil drones and on the outskirts of Yohmor al-Shaqif with rocket salvoes and artillery shells.

The Israeli army has announced the deaths of two soldiers who had been fighting in southern Lebanon, AFP reports.

One, a 23-year-old captain, died yesterday after succumbing to wounds sustained in combat, while a 21-year-old sergeant died on Friday “during operational activity in southern Lebanon”, the military said.

Israel has lost 29 soldiers since the start of the latest war in Lebanon, as well as one civilian contractor, according to official figures.

Its bombing campaign and invasion of Lebanon’s south have killed more than 3,500 people there, according to the Lebanese health ministry.