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”
Pakistan hosted the first round of face-to-face talks between the US and Iran in 47 years in April; the talks ended without a breakthrough, but also without a breakdown
Iran’s foreign ministry says that there are “no negotiations” taking place on its nuclear programme, after US President Donald Trump suggested it would relinquish its enriched uranium under a deal to end the Middle East war, AFP reports.
“At this stage, we are focused on ending the war, and there are no negotiations on the nuclear issue,” ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told state TV.
Iran’s foreign ministry says that there is still “no final agreement” with the United States to end the Middle East war, after US President Donald Trump said he was making his decision on a potential deal, AFP reports.
“Regarding the understanding, as I said while speaking to you, exchanges of messages are continuing, but no final agreement has been reached yet,” ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told state media.
The Israeli military has struck the town of Zefta, in southern Lebanon, NNA has reported according to Al Jazeera, after Israel issued yet another displacement threat calling on residents to flee their homes.
According to the state-run news agency, the strike destroyed a two-storey building. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Lebanon’s official National News Agency says Civil Defence teams have recovered four bodies, including children, after an Israeli air strike hit a house in the southern town of Adloun, according to Al Jazeera.
Rescue crews are continuing to search through the rubble for others believed to be trapped under the debris, the agency reported.
Iran’s Fars news agency has cited “informed sources” as saying the latest comments by US President Donald Trump about a potential deal to end the Middle East war were a “mixture of truth and lies”, Reuters has reported.
“Trump claimed that Iran was obligated to open the Strait of Hormuz without tolls, even though no such clause appears in the next of the agreement,” the agency said.
On Trump’s assertion that Washington and Tehran would coordinate on destroying Iran’s enriched uranium, it added: “Well-informed sources emphasised that not only does this not appear in the memorandum of understanding, but this claim is fundamentally baseless. “
A senior Iranian source said the same to Reuters, and stated that a political understanding has been reached between Iran and the US over the Iran war, but it has not yet been finalised.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar says that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has “appreciated” Pakistan’s role in facilitating US-Iran negotiations.
“We had a very cordial meeting,” he added while addressing a press conference.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi has slammed Israel’s “punishment” of United Nations chief Antonio Guterres by breaking all contact.
In a post on X, he termed the move “a sign of the same dangerous pattern: evading accountability by attacking international institutions”.
“Conflict-related sexual violence, attacks against civilians, and ceasefire violations should be pursued within the framework of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and international responsibility,” he said.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio meets with Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar in the Treaty Room of the State Department on May 29, 2026 in Washington, DC. — AFP
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio shakes hands with Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar (L) in the Treaty Room of the State Department ahead of a meeting on May 29, 2026 in Washington, DC. — AFP
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomes Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar at the State Department on May 29, 2026 in Washington, DC. — AFP
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomes Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar at the State Department on May 29, 2026 in Washington, DC. — AFP
Israel’s military has issued another displacement threat in Lebanon, telling residents of the town of Zefta to immediately flee their homes, Al Jazeera reports.
In an Arabic-language social media post, the Israeli military said residents of the town should immediately move north of the Zahrani River, saying Israeli forces would soon “act forcefully” in the area against Hezbollah.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar met US Secretary of State and National Security Adviser Marco Rubio on Friday, and the two leaders also participated in a photo opportunity before the talks.
A joint statement is expected later in the day, while Dar is also scheduled to address a press conference.
He reached Washington for the meeting earlier in the day, the Foreign Office (FO) said.
Kazakhstan has signalled it is willing to take Tehran’s stockpile of uranium enriched close to weapons-grade levels if the US reaches a deal with Iran over its nuclear programme, the head of UN’s nuclear watchdog has told the Financial Times according to Reuters.
The central Asian state expressed its openness to keeping the stockpile when Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev met International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi in Astana this week, Grossi told the newspaper in an interview published today.
Kazakhstan hosts an internationally-controlled bank of low-enriched uranium to ensure fuel supplies for power stations in IAEA member states and prevent nuclear proliferation. The storage facility was opened in 2017 in collaboration with the IAEA.
Iran’s top diplomat Abbas Araghchi told his Omani counterpart that reaching a deal with the United States to end the Middle East war depended on Washington dropping its “excessive demands”, Tehran’s foreign ministry says according to AFP.
“The Iranian minister of foreign affairs… indicated that arriving at a final agreement depended on ending the American party’s attitude based on excessive demands and shifting and contradictory positions,” the ministry said in a summary of a call between the ministers.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump has listed his demands regarding a peace deal with Iran.
“Iran must agree that they will never have a Nuclear Weapon or Bomb,” he stated, along with assertions that the Strait of Hormuz is to be “immediately open, no tolls” and all mines to be terminated.
He added that ships caught in the strait “due to our amazing and unprecedented Naval Blockade, which will now be lifted, may start the process of ‘heading home!’”
Trump also called for the unearthing and destruction of enriched material in coordination with Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency.
“Other items, of far less importance, have been agreed to,” he added.
US President Donald Trump says he is now making a “final” decision on whether or not to strike a peace deal with Iran.
“I will be meeting now, in the Situation Room, to make a final determination,” Trump said in a lengthy social media post, stressing that Iran must agree never to have nuclear weapons and to open the Hormuz shipping lanes.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has told US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that a ceasefire with Israel is crucial, as Israeli and Lebanese military delegations meet at the Pentagon, Al Jazeera reports.
A statement from Aoun’s office said that during a phone call, the president “emphasised the need to exert all efforts to reach a ceasefire, considering it an essential gateway to moving on to any other step”.
Rubio reiterated the US administration’s commitment to consolidate the outcomes of previous ambassador-level negotiations meetings in Washington between Israel and Lebanon, and expressed his support for Lebanon’s stability, independence and sovereignty, the statement added.
Milan prosecutors have placed two Iranians living in Italy under investigation and ordered their homes to be searched over alleged threats to compatriots opposed to the Tehran government, judicial documents shows according to Reuters.
According to a nine-page search warrant seen by Reuters, prosecutors suspect the two people of aggravated threats and association for the purpose of terrorism and subversion of democracy.
The case stems from complaints filed by several Iranian citizens living in Italy. In one case cited in the warrant, an Iranian dissident told investigators she had received a phone call telling her she had been sentenced to death for being an opposition supporter and would have her assets in Iran confiscated.
One of the two suspects had an Instagram profile from which death threats were made against anyone hoping for the accession to power of Reza Pahlavi — the exiled son of Iran’s former Shah — the warrant showed.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has held a call with his Omani counterpart Badr Albusaidi, where he “expressed Iran’s solidarity with Oman in face of any threat”.
In a post on X, he said that the two discussed the future administration of the Strait of Hormuz in line with sovereign responsibilities and international law.
“We welcome consultation with all neighboring states,” Araghchi added.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that Israeli forces have crossed Lebanon’s Litani River, which runs around 30 kilometres north of the countries’ shared border, AFP reports.
“Our forces have crossed the Litani, they have moved up to the commanding terrain. We are operating in Beirut, in the Beqaa, across the entire front and are hitting Hezbollah head on,” he said during a visit to troops near the border, according to a video released by his office.
Turkiye has warned against “uncontrolled escalation” in the Black Sea region after a drone attack hit a Turkish cargo ship on Thursday night, AFP reports.
“We reiterate our warning to all parties concerned: any action that could lead to an uncontrolled escalation of the conflict must be avoided,” the Turkish foreign ministry wrote in a statement, without naming a suspect.
The Ukrainian navy claimed earlier today that a Russian drone had attacked the vessel, causing a fire.
Three Turkish cargo ships were targeted yesterday by a drone attack in the Black Sea, off Turkiye’s northern coast, without causing any casualties, local media reported.
“We have conveyed to the parties concerned… our concerns regarding the risks and threats posed to our region by the recent escalation of the conflict in the Black Sea, as well as our warnings about the potential negative repercussions for our country,” Turkiye’s foreign ministry said in its statement.
The United States and Iran have reached an agreement to extend a ceasefire, allow shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and lift a US blockade and some sanctions on Iran, sources have said, but the deal has not been finalised. US President Donald Trump’s approval is still pending.
An agreement would represent a big step towards ending a war that has pushed the world towards an energy crisis, though the underlying dispute over Iran’s nuclear programme would only be thrashed out in talks over subsequent weeks.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has reported that 24 ships have crossed the Strait of Hormuz in coordination with Iranian authorities over the past 24 hours, Al Jazeera reports.
In a statement carried by Iran’s Fars news agency, the IRGC navy said it is allowing a limited number of ships to cross the strategic waterway via designated routes each day to “avoid congestion”.
Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Bagher Ghalibaf, has said that Iran seizes concessions “with missiles” rather than dialogue and that Iran trusts actions more than words.
“We seize concessions not through dialogue, but with missiles; in negotiations, we merely make them understand,” he said in a post on X.
He added that “we have no trust in guarantees or words … no action will be taken before the other side acts”.
Army Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir claims Israel has inflicted “cumulative and unprecedented damage” on Hezbollah and it will not be limited by the “yellow line” demarcation that seizes Lebanon’s southern territory, Al Jazeera reports.
“The yellow line does not limit us. Wherever we are required to remove a threat, we will act,” he said during a visit to Division 210 troops.
“The command is acting creatively with initiative and responsibility, including manoeuvring into new spaces, and continues to push the enemy, destroy its capabilities, and systematically harm it,” said Zamir.
