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”
Further Israeli strikes have taken place across southern Lebanon, Al Jazeera reports citing the state-run National News Agency.
Israeli warplanes have targeted the town of Khiam, in the Marjayoun district, and the town of Haddatha, Bint Jbeil district, the Lebanese news agency says.
Artillery shelling has also been reported on the outskirts of Maaliya and Hosh Sour, in the Tyre district.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will head back to Pakistan after visiting Oman, state media reported, having just left Islamabad earlier in the day, AFP reports.
The IRNA news agency, citing the foreign ministry, reported that Araghchi “is scheduled to visit Pakistan again after completing his trip to Oman and before travelling to Russia”.
Part of his delegation had returned to Tehran, it added, “to consult and obtain the necessary instructions on issues related to ending the war, and is scheduled to rejoin Araghchi in Islamabad on Sunday night”.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei says that an Iranian delegation is visiting Oman for the first time since the outbreak of the Middle East war, which he says has “impacted the broader region”.
“Iran continues to place great importance on its relations with Persian Gulf states and remains committed to strengthening mutual trust and constructive cooperation,” Baghaei has said on X.
He adds that ties between Tehran and Muscat are a testament to Iran’s “genuine pursuance of respectful and mutually beneficial relations with its neighbours in the south”.
US President Donald Trump has reiterated that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, and that they “offered a lot, but not enough”.
“They gave us a paper that should have been better, and interestingly, immediately when I cancelled it, within 10 minutes we got a new paper that was much better,” he tells reporters, without going into detail about what Tehran offered.
“They will not have a nuclear weapon. It’s very simple: look, that whole deal is not complicated. Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon,” he adds.
Asked if he will continue the ceasefire, Trump responds, “I haven’t even thought about it.”
US President Donald Trump has said he will deal with “whoever’s running the show” in Iran, referring to earlier comments where he suggested that he does not know “who’s in charge”.
“I’ll deal with whoever runs the show,” he tells reporters. “They don’t know, they are fighting with each other, there’s tremendous infighting. They’re probably fighting for leadership [and] in many cases, I think they’re fighting not to be the leader, because we knocked out two levels of leaders.”
Trump said he sees no reason to “wait two days, have people travelling for 16, 17 hours”, reiterating that if the Iranians want to talk, they can contact Washington.
US President Donald Trump has commented on his decision to cancel the trip of US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Pakistan.
“They weren’t meeting the leader of the country; they were meeting with other people. And I said ‘we’re just not going to do it’,” he told reporters. “Too much travelling, takes too long and very expensive.”
US President Donald Trump has praised Pakistan’s leadership amid the peace process with Iran, while also stating that he is not sending envoys Steve Wikoff and Jared Kushner to the country because it would be “too much travel”.
“I think Pakistan is terrific and the field marshal is fantastic. I think the prime minister of Pakistan’s great, and they’d like to see something happen,” Trump told reporters.
“But we’re not going to be travelling 15, 16 hours to have a meeting with people that nobody ever heard of.”
Asked about what changed that prompted Trump to cancel a visit to Pakistan by his envoys, he said, “Too much travel.
“When they say the meeting’s scheduled for Tuesday, I say ‘Tuesday? That’s a long time from now.’ But when you get down to it, that’s a lot of travelling,” he added.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the military to strike Hezbollah hard after what it claims is a string of ceasefire violations, AFP reports.
According to a brief statement from his office, Netanyahu “ordered the IDF to forcefully attack Hezbollah targets in Lebanon”, after the military claimed the group violated a ceasefire that was extended earlier this week.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has had a “warm and cordial conversation” with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, where he reaffirmed Islamabad’s “commitment to regional peace”, a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office says.
According to the PMO, the call lasted for 50 minutes and the premier welcomed Tehran’s decision to send a delegation led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, with whom PM Shehbaz had a two-hour meeting.
“While sharing with the Iranian President an overview of his recent diplomatic outreach to a number of world leaders, the Prime Minister emphasised that these interactions had been helpful in building broader consensus in support of sustained dialogue and diplomacy aimed at achieving lasting peace in the war-affected region,” the statement reads.
“While reassuring the Iranian president of Pakistan’s firm commitment to regional peace, the prime minister said that Pakistan would continue its sincere and honest endeavours to promote regional peace and security,” it adds.
Pezeshkian expressed gratitude to PM Shehbaz, Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar for Pakistan’s “significant contribution” to peace efforts.
“While expressing Iran’s desire for peace, he also expressed confidence that the fraternal ties between Iran and Pakistan would continue to strengthen and expand in the future,” the statement reads.
Al Jazeera’s Heidi Pett reports an apparent increase in Israeli military activity in Lebanon.
“We’ve seen a steady drumbeat of Israeli strikes, of Israel demolishing houses inside the part of southern Lebanon that it has been occupying and continued artillery shelling as well,” she says.
“There is a pattern that we have seen continuing today, as well as fire from Hezbollah, whether that’s through explosive drones or rocket fire, at Israeli troops who are inside southern Lebanon or across the border.”
Pett reports that in response to Hezbollah targeting the Menara, Margaliot and Misgav Am areas with rockets, there has been a sustained campaign of aerial bombardment.
“There have been multiple strikes on towns north of Bint Jbeil, and one of them killed two people and injured 17 others,” she adds.
“A couple of hours after that, we heard rounds of artillery shelling on the towns and villages near the city of Tyre coming in every seven to eight seconds. The impact of those was north of what Israel calls the ‘Yellow Line’ or the ‘forward defence line’, which is the part of southern Lebanon that Israel is seeking to control by firing on anything or anyone that moves.”
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that he spoke with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on the “evolving regional situation”, terming the exchange “warm and constructive”.
“I appreciated Iran’s continued engagement, including the high-level delegation to Islamabad led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, whom I had the pleasure of meeting earlier today,” he said.
“I reaffirmed that, with the support of friends and partners, Pakistan remains committed to serve as an honest and sincere facilitator — working tirelessly to advance durable peace and lasting stability in the region,” he added.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says controlling the Strait of Hormuz is Iran’s “definitive strategy” in the war with the United States, Al Jazeera reports.
“Controlling the Strait of Hormuz and maintaining the shadow of its deterrent effects over America and the White House’s supporters in the region is the definitive strategy of Iran,” the IRGC said in a statement on its Telegram channel.
US President Donald Trump said it was unclear who was running Iran as he cancelled his envoys’ trip to Pakistan for negotiations towards ending the war.
“There is tremendous infighting and confusion within their ‘leadership’. Nobody knows who is in charge, including them,” he said.
“If they want to talk, all they have to do is call!!!” he added.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi termed his visit to Pakistan “very fruitful”.
In a post on X, he said, “Very fruitful visit to Pakistan, whose good offices and brotherly efforts to bring back peace to our region we very much value.
“Shared Iran’s position concerning a workable framework to permanently end the war on Iran. Have yet to see if the US is truly serious about diplomacy,” he said.
US President Donald Trump says cancelling his envoys’ trip to Islamabad for talks does not automatically mean war with Iran would restart, despite the setback in peace efforts, AFP reports.
Asked whether the cancellation meant he would resume the war, Trump tells Axios: “No. It doesn’t mean that. We haven’t thought about it yet.
Israeli warplanes have launched three consecutive air strikes on the town of Kunin, in the Bint Jbeil district of southern Lebanon, Al Jazeera reports, citing the state-run National News Agency.
NNA says Israeli air raids have continued to hit southern Lebanon, despite a 10-day ceasefire having been extended for another three weeks.
US President Donald Trump tells Fox News’ White House correspondent Aishah Hasnie that US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will no longer be heading to Pakistan for talks with Iran.
“I’ve told my people a little while ago they were getting ready to leave, and I said, ‘Nope, you’re not making an 18-hour flight to go there. We have all the cards. They can call us anytime they want, but you’re not going to be making any more 18-hour flights to sit around talking about nothing’,” Trump says.
Lebanon’s health ministry has announced that the death toll from Israeli attacks has risen to 2,496, with 7,725 people injured since the escalation of fighting on March 2, Al Jazeera reports.
In its daily report, it said the total number of displaced people sheltering in evacuation centres has exceeded 120,000, while the number of displaced families in these centres has reached around 31,000.
A Republican lawmaker has told Bloomberg that US-Iran talks on ending the conflict, which has closed the Strait of Hormuz, seem unlikely to make major progress soon.
“I don’t see any big breakthrough in the near term,” Texas Representative Michael McCaul, a former chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Homeland Security panels, said.
