War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has accused Hezbollah of trying to plunge Lebanon “back into chaos”, reports AFP.

Rubio denounced what he called Hezbollah’s “reckless call to overthrow Lebanon’s democratically elected government” and said the pro-Iran armed group was “actively trying to drag Lebanon back into chaos and destruction. “

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has told The New York Times on Sunday that an agreement with Iran had garnered regional support but a nuclear deal couldn’t be achieved “in 72 hours on the back of a napkin.”

His comments came after US President Donald Trump told his negotiators “not to rush into a deal” with Iran to end the three-month war.

“We’re not kicking it till later. Nuclear talks are highly technical matters. You can’t do a nuclear thing in 72 hours on the back of a napkin,” Rubio told the Times in a brief interview.

“So right now, we have seven or eight countries in the region that are endorsing this approach, and we’re prepared to move forward on this approach,” he said.

The Israeli military says it launched interceptors at “a number of suspected aerial targets with which contact was lost” in northern Israel, Al Jazeera reports.

The launches followed alerts signalling the possible intrusion of aircraft in several areas, the military said on Telegram.

According to Iran’s Tasnim news agency, US obstruction of some clauses, including the release of Iran’s frozen assets, continues.

“Accordingly, there is a possibility that the agreement may be cancelled,” the report said.

US lawmakers appearing on Sunday morning talk shows have split sharply over a potential deal to end the Iran war, with Republicans mostly backing the publicly reported contours of an agreement being negotiated by President Donald Trump and Democrats dismissing it as accomplishing little, Reuters reports.

Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the reported outlines of a deal sounded like little more than “the pre-war status quo” with Iran.

“I think this was a blunder,” Van Hollen said on the “Fox News Sunday” program.

“When you’re digging a hole, you should stop digging, and that sounds like maybe what we’re doing finally.”

Representative Mike Lawler, a New York Republican who sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, praised Trump’s approach to talks with Iran.

Senator Cory Booker, a New Jersey Democrat, said Trump was being “played as a fool” in negotiations. “He’s got us in a situation that’s worse than it was before, a more extreme regime,” Booker told CNN’s “State of the Union” show.

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem has expressed hope for an agreement between Iran and the United States, and that Lebanon would be part of its terms, AFP reports.

“God willing, this agreement will be finalised, and there are signs of its completion, and accordingly, that we too will be among those included in this agreement — an agreement of a full cessation of hostilities,” he said in a televised address.

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem has once again urged Lebanese authorities to abandon direct talks with Israel, ahead of a fourth round of such discussions in Washington early next month, AFP reports.

“Direct negotiations are completely unacceptable and are a pure gain for Israel,” he said.

Addressing Lebanese authorities, he added: “Abandon the direct negotiations and do not give to America so that it gives to Israel[..] don’t be with them and stab us in the back.”

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem has said that his group’s disarmament was unacceptable and amounted to “annihilation”, as Lebanon prepares for a new round of direct talks with Israel in Washington early next month, AFP reports.

“Disarmament means stripping Lebanon of its defensive capability and the capability of the resistance (Hezbollah) and [these] people, paving the way for annihilation,” he said in a televised address, adding: “Disarmament is annihilation and we cannot accept it.”

A state monopoly on weapons demanded by Lebanese authorities, “at this stage, is aimed at targeting the resistance and is an Israeli project”, he added.

Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi has met Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi in the Omani capital, Muscat, Al Jazeera reports.

Gharibabadi delivered “a verbal message” from Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, the official Oman News Agency reported.

They also discussed the Pakistani-mediated talks between Tehran and Washington and “the commitment of both countries to resuming freedom of navigation”.

Mohsen Rezaei, a military adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, has said that managing the Strait of Hormuz was Tehran’s “legal right” in order to ensure national security, Reuters reports.

“Iran’s management of Hormuz Strait ends 50 years of insecurity in the Persian Gulf,” Iranian news agencies quoted Rezaei as saying.

Lebanon’s health ministry has said that an Israeli strike the previous day in the country’s south killed 11 people, including six women and a child, despite a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war, AFP reports.

“The Israeli enemy strike on the town of Sir al-Gharbiyeh in the Nabatieh district resulted in a massacre whose final toll is 11 dead, including a child and six women, and nine wounded, including four children and a woman,” the ministry said in a statement.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that he and US President Donald Trump had agreed that any final deal with Iran must fully end the Islamic Republic’s “nuclear threat,” AFP reports.

“President Trump and I agreed that any final agreement with Iran must eliminate the nuclear threat entirely. This means dismantling Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities and removing enriched nuclear material from its territory,” Netanyahu said in a statement, referring to a conversation between the two leaders on Saturday night.

He also thanked “all of the countries of the Middle East for their support and cooperation, which will be further enhanced and strengthened by their joining the Nations of the historic Abraham Accords”.

The US president went on to say that “who knows, perhaps the Islamic Republic of Iran would like to join, as well!”

The US president also says that negotiations with Iran are proceeding in an “orderly and constructive manner”.

He, however, added that he had “informed my representatives not to rush into a deal in that time is on our side”.

“The Blockade will remain in full force and effect until an agreement is reached, certified, and signed. Both sides must take their time and get it right. There can be no mistakes!

“Our relationship with Iran is becoming a much more professional and productive one. They must understand, however, that they cannot develop or procure a Nuclear Weapon or Bomb,” he said.

US President Donald Trump claims that the deal his administration is negotiating with Iran would yield results that are “the exact opposite” of the deal made by the Obama administration.

“One of the worst deals ever made by our Country was the Iran Nuclear Deal, put forth and signed into existence by Barack Hussein Obama and the rank amateurs of the Obama Administration. It was a direct path to Iran developing a Nuclear Weapon.

“Not so with the transaction currently being negotiated with Iran by the Trump Administration - THE EXACT OPPOSITE, in fact!” he said in a post on his Truth Social platform.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told US President Donald Trump Israel would remain free to act against threats in Lebanon during a phone call about an emerging agreement between Washington and Iran on Saturday, an Israeli source says, according to Reuters.

“In last night’s conversation with president Trump, the prime minister emphasised that Israel will maintain freedom of action against threats in all arenas, including Lebanon, and president Trump reiterated and supported this principle,” the Israeli political source told Reuters, asking not to be named.

The United States and Iran appear closer than ever to a deal that would end a war that has engulfed the Middle East and disrupted the global oil market.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the world might “get some good news” soon after President Donald Trump announced an agreement had been “largely negotiated” and would include the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

Before Trump’s announcement, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei spoke of “a trend towards rapprochement” with Washington, but warned that “it does not necessarily mean that we and the United States will reach an agreement on the important issues.” He said on state television that Iran’s “intention was first to draft a memorandum of understanding, a kind of framework agreement,” before a final deal is reached within 30 to 60 days.

Read the full story here.

33 ships have crossed the Strait of Hormuz in the last 24 hours after obtaining permission from Iran, the IRGC Navy says, according to the Fars news agency.

“In the past day, 33 ships, including oil tankers, container ships, and other commercial vessels, crossed the Strait of Hormuz after obtaining permission, with coordination and security provided by the IRGC Navy,” Fars reported the IRGC as saying.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says Tehran is not seeking nuclear weapons, as negotiations with the US on Iran’s nuclear programme continue, Al Jazeera reports.

“We are ready to reassure the world that we are not seeking nuclear weapons,” Pezeshkian said, according to local media reports.

But he emphasised that Iran’s negotiating team “will not compromise” when it comes to its “honour and dignity”.

Israel’s military has warned the residents of around a dozen villages in southern and eastern Lebanon to evacuate their homes ahead of expected strikes against alleged Hezbollah targets, reports AFP.

“For your safety, we urge you to immediately move at least 1,000 metres away from the areas mentioned,” the military’s Arabic-language spokesman, Colonel Avichay Adraee, said in a post on X, listing the names of the villages.

A Bahraini court has sentenced nine defendants to life in prison and two others to three years in jail for collaborating with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to carry out what it described as “hostile and terrorist acts” against Bahrain, Reuters reports, citing the state news agency.

The defendants were involved in gathering information on sensitive sites and facilitating related financial transfers, the statement said.