The Israeli military issued evacuation warnings for residents of seven villages in southern Lebanon, saying it was about to strike Hezbollah targets there. 

"In light of the terrorist organisation Hezbollah's violation of the ceasefire agreement, the IDF is compelled to take decisive action against it," the military's Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee said on X in two separate statements, naming seven villages in Lebanon's south, including some near Nabatieh. 

Undeterred by the spiralling global energy markets and a shadow looming over his ratings ahead of the November midterms, US President Donald Trump on Saturday walked out of a two-hour White House Situation Room meeting without any decision on a potential deal to end the Iran war.

A senior administration official told the New York Times that though a deal is close, matters including unfreezing of funds for the Iranians are being deliberated upon. "The Situation Room meeting has concluded and lasted approximately two hours. President Trump will only make a deal that is good for America and satisfies his red lines. Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon," a White House official said in a statement.

Ahead of the meeting, Trump had said that he was walking into the meeting to make a "final determination" on how to proceed with the potential ceasefire.

as United Arab Emirates (UAE)'s involvement in the United States-Israel war on Iran much deeper than estimated?

The UAE carried out dozens of airstrikes against Iran, a report in The Wall Street Journal has claimed. The strikes, according to the report, began in the early days of the war and continued till the April ceasefire.

The report, quoting people in the know, points to a deeper involvement than was previously known in the air campaign led by the US and Israel.

Military officials from Israel and Lebanon held "productive" talks in Washington on Friday, a US official said, adding that the meeting will complement upcoming diplomatic discussions.

"Today at the Pentagon, I hosted military delegations from Israel and Lebanon for the security track supporting the ongoing peace talks between their two countries," Elbridge Colby, the Pentagon's second-in-command, said on X.

"We held productive military-to-military discussions which will inform the Department of State-led political track next week," he said.

President Donald Trump will only make a peace deal with Iran if it meets all his conditions, a White House official told AFP after the US leader huddled with aides to discuss a possible agreement.

"The Situation Room meeting has concluded and lasted approximately two hours. President Trump will only make a deal that is good for America and satisfies his red lines," the White House official said on condition of anonymity.

The United States issued new counter-terrorism sanctions on Friday targeting Iranian individuals and entities, among others, a notice on the Treasury Department website showed.

US President Donald Trump on Friday finished a meeting during which he said would make a "final determination" on an Iran peace deal, a White House official told AFP.
The official would not say if Trump had reached a decision on the deal with Tehran during the gathering in the high security White House Situation Room.

Khamenei, who led the Islamic republic for more than three decades, was killed in the first wave of US-Israeli strikes that launched the war on February 28.

Iran's Fars news agency cited informed sources on Friday 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".

"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."

(AFP)

Sources tell Fars news agency Iran has not agreed to destroy nuclear material

(AFP)

Iran sources tell Fars news agency deal doesn't include reopening Hormuz toll-free

(AFP)

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 said Friday.

"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.

(AFP)

US President Donald Trump said in a social media post that he would be meeting in the White House Situation Room on Friday to make a final decision on a deal with Iran. 

Iran said on Friday it was looking for actions, not words, from the United States after sources said President Donald Trump was weighing an initial U.S.-Iranian agreement to extend a ceasefire and open the Strait of Hormuz.

The comments by Iran's top negotiator, Mohammad Ghalibaf, were in line with previous defiant statements from Iran but added to questions over how such an agreement might unfold.

According to four sources familiar with the matter, a deal would extend the truce in place since early April for 60 days and allow oil and gas shipments through the strategic waterway while negotiators tackle difficult issues such as Iran's nuclear programme.

(Reuters)

US Vice President JD Vance said Washington and Tehran are close to agreeing a deal to extend their ceasefire in the Middle East war, but the potential breakthrough still hangs on President Donald Trump's approval.

Trump remained notably silent into Friday morning, despite US sources telling AFP a deal just needed his sign-off, underscoring the volatility of talks three months after the war rattled the Middle East and the global economy.

"It's hard to say exactly when or if the President is going to sign the MOU," Vance told reporters on Thursday. "We're going back and forth on a couple of language points. We've made a lot of progress here."

(AFP)

The US and Iran have reportedly agreed on a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to prolong their fragile ceasefire for 60 days and launch negotiations on Iran's nuclear programme. According to a deal, which is yet to be finalised, the US will commit to discussing sanctions relief and the release of Iran's frozen assets as part of the negotiations. The two sides will also discuss a mechanism to help Iran start receiving goods and humanitarian aid, the Axios report said. However, the NYT report said what's on paper may not match what the two sides agree to verbally. 

Iran has an estimated $24 billion of its own money frozen in banks abroad, and it has wanted access to up to $20 billion of those assets, the report said.

An oil tanker carrying petroleum for India has cleared the Strait of Hormuz, according to several sites that track maritime traffic.

The Nissos Keros is on its way to Vishakapatnam and is expected to reach its destination on June 3, according to multiple sites.

The ship, flying under the Marshall Islands flag, left Shajrah on May 21 and was reported at 6 am Indian Standard Time on Friday in the Northern Arabian Sea off the west coast of India.

According to a report by Axios, under the proposed deal, shipping through Hormuz would be unrestricted, with no tolls or harassment; Iran would remove all mines within 30 days, and the United States would lift its naval blockade if commercial traffic resumes.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday threatened to target ally Oman if it helped impose a tolling system in the key Strait of Hormuz, warning of sanctions against all parties involved in such actions.

"Oman, in particular, should know that the US Treasury will aggressively target any actors involved -- directly or indirectly -- in facilitating tolls for the Strait and any willing partners will be penalized," Bessent warned in a post on X.

The United States and Iran have made good progress towards a ceasefire extension deal but President Donald Trump is not yet ready to approve it, US Vice President JD Vance said Thursday.

Iran's state TV said on early on Friday that a US aircraft was destroyed in Iran's Jam governorate in Bushehr, citing its governor Masoud Tangestani, with no confirmation from the United States. 

Khamenei's address marks the anniversary of the founding of Iran's national legislature. The Supreme Leader has not appeared in public since before he took office in March.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar will visit Washington on Friday where he will meet with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Pakistan's foreign ministry said on Thursday.

The visit comes as Islamabad is attempting to negotiate a peace pact to permanently end the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.

Dar will meet Rubio "to review bilateral relations and exchange views on regional and global developments of mutual interest", the foreign ministry said in a statement.

(Reuters)

Iran Guards threaten 'firm response' if US repeats attacks

(AFP)

Iran condemned on Thursday what it called violations by the United States after its strikes on the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, while vowing to defend its sovereignty.

The ministry's spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Iran would "take all necessary measures to defend its national sovereignty" and condemned what he called "the threatening rhetoric of American officials against Iran and several regional countries."

"Referring to the continuous ceasefire violations by the US... Baqaei insisted on the Islamic Republic of Iran's determination to take all the necessary measures to defend its national sovereignty and territorial integrity," a foreign ministry statement said.

According to the statement, Baqaei "expressed solidarity with the friendly and brotherly country that is Oman" after President Donald Trump threatened to "blow them up". 

(AFP)

The United States and Iran traded strikes on Thursday in their most serious clash since an April ceasefire began, rattling ongoing efforts to negotiate an end to the war and open the vital Strait of Hormuz.

The latest exchange also drew in US ally Kuwait, which said it was responding to incoming fire, and came as violence on the war's Lebanese front escalated sharply after Israel declared much of the country's south a combat zone.

Iranian forces fired at four ships attempting to cross Hormuz, according to state broadcaster IRIB. Iran has blockaded the strait since the start of the war in late February.

(AFP)

The U.S. military on Thursday slammed Iran for violating a fragile ceasefire after Kuwait reported coming under attack in the latest flare-up that threatened ongoing negotiations to end the war.

U.S. Central Command said that Kuwait had intercepted missiles launched by Iran late Wednesday night, calling the Iranian attack on one of America's top allies in the Persian Gulf an “egregious ceasefire violation.”

Kuwait had earlier announced an attack on its territory, and Iran said it had retaliated for strikes earlier in the week by firing on a U.S. base in an Gulf state it did not name. Kuwait's Foreign Ministry on Thursday condemned Iran for what it called “blatant aggression."

(AP)

Iran's Shahed drones, which have repeatedly targeted Gulf countries during the recent conflict in the region, are now becoming the blueprint for a new drone manufacturing project in Saudi Arabia backed by a US defence startup.

A new facility planned near Riyadh will manufacture long-range attack drones through a partnership between American firm Vector Defense and Saudi startup SR2 Defense Systems, Semafor reported.

The joint venture, called SR2Vector, is preparing to build a drone system known as SKYWASP, designed for one-way strike missions similar to Iran's Shahed drones.

As per the report, the drone has a strike range of nearly 1,500 kilometres, enough to reach Tehran from parts of Saudi Arabia.

The Strait of Hormuz continues to be a point of contention as US President Donald Trump issued a stern warning on access to it on Wednesday, adding that it will be "open to everyone" and "no one" will control it.

"The strait will be open to everyone. These are international waters. No one will control it. This is part of the negotiations we are conducting. Oman will act like everyone else, otherwise we will have to blow them up. They understand that," Trump said, when asked if he will be open to a short-term deal concerning the vital marine chokepoint. Oman, a US ally, has tried to mediate the Middle East war and has come under Iranian attacks.

Round after round of talks have ended without conclusion, leading a frustrated Trump to say the Iranian side is "negotiating on fumes" and demanding a "perfect" deal.

On Israel's Mediterranean coastline, the Haifa Port stands today not just as one of the country's busiest maritime hubs, but also as a symbol of India's expanding strategic and economic footprint in West Asia.

As tensions continue to simmer amid the ongoing regional conflict, the significance of Haifa has grown sharply. For India, this port is no longer only about trade. It is increasingly linked to connectivity, energy security and regional stability.

NDTV's ground report from Haifa Port comes at a time when Israel remains on high alert across multiple fronts. Despite the volatile security environment, operations continue at the port that has emerged as a key node in India's larger geopolitical vision.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guards targeted an American base in retaliation for US strikes on the country's south, Iran's state broadcaster IRIB reported.

"Following this morning's aggression by the invading U.S. military against a location on the outskirts of Bandar Abbas Airport using aerial projectiles, the American air base that served as the source of the attack was targeted at 4.50 am (0120 GMT)," the Guards said, according to IRIB.

It did not provide details of the location of the base, though Kuwait, a US ally, said it was responding to missile and drone attacks on Thursday morning.

Kuwait said it faced a missile and drone attack as the shaky ceasefire in the Iran war was again challenged after the United States conducted strikes targeting Iran.

Kuwait repeatedly came under fire from Iran and Iranian-backed Shiite militias in Iraq during the war. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

The United States Treasury announced sanctions against Iran's Persian Gulf Strait Authority, Tehran's new agency that collects fees for traveling through the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

"The Iranian military's latest attempt to extort global maritime trade is proof that Economic Fury has left the regime desperate for cash," said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in a statement. 

The statement extended the threat of sanctions to anyone paying the fees, because they "may be providing support to and receiving services from" Iran's Revolutionary Guards, and therefore may "be exposed to sanctions risk." 

"Treasury has deprived the Iranian regime of revenue for their weapons programs, terrorist proxies, and nuclear ambitions," Bessent said. 

Iranian forces fired at four ships attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz, state broadcaster IRIB reported.

"Four vessels attempted to cross the Strait of Hormuz and enter the Persian Gulf without coordination with the security forces," IRIB posted on Telegram, saying the incident took place at around 12.35 am local time (2105 GMT Wednesday) but without providing details on the ships.

"They were warned, but after they ignored the warning, warning shots were fired at them, forcing them to return," it added. 

An official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that the military site that was struck was an Iranian ground control station in Iran's Bandar Abbas that was about to launch a fifth drone.

The crucial port city of Bandar Abbas occupies a a strategic position on the Strait of Hormuz and has been a target of attacks since the war began on February 28. 

Iran has 440.9 kilograms (972 pounds) of uranium that is enriched up to 60 per cent purity, a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90 per cent, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. Iran has not publicly committed to giving up its uranium.

According to two regional officials and one senior Trump administration official, Iran would agree to give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium - a key Trump demand - in return for sanctions relief under a potential deal.

One regional official, with direct knowledge of the negotiations, said how Iran would give up the uranium would be subject to further talks during a 60-day period. Some would likely be diluted, while the rest would be transferred to a third country, the official said.

Trump said that he "wouldn't be comfortable" with either Russia or China taking Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium.

Thursday's strikes are the second in the last four days. On Monday, US forces carried out what the Pentagon called "defensive" strikes on missile launch sites and minelaying boats in southern Iran.

The US said it acted with "restraint" in light of the weeks-long ceasefire, while Iran decried the action as a sign of "bad faith and unreliability."

The attack comes a day after US President Donald Trump asserted that Iran is "negotiating on fumes" and insisted that November's midterm elections won't make him rush into a deal to end the nearly three-month-old conflict that's spurred unease across the global economy.

Over the weekend, he even declared that his administration and Tehran had "largely negotiated" a settlement, though the talks are still in flux.

The President is looking for a settlement that will reopen the Strait of Hormuz and provide him with a credible argument that Iran's nuclear capability has been diminished enough to declare victory, winding down a conflict that's been politically unpopular for Republicans.

"They want very much to make a deal," Trump said. "So far, they haven't gotten there. We're not satisfied with it, but we will be — either that or we'll have to just finish the job."

The US military carried out new strikes overnight in Iran targeting a military site that officials believed posed a threat to US forces and commercial maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.

An official told Reuters that the US military has also intercepted and shot down multiple Iranian drones that posed a similar threat.