Trump links Israel normalisation to Iran deal as Tehran officials hold Qatar talks on peace, frozen funds

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday he had ordered the military to intensify its offensive in Lebanon in an effort to "crush" Hezbollah, accusing the group of targeting Israeli forces with drone attacks.

"I have ordered an even greater acceleration of our operations," Netanyahu said in a video statement posted on his Telegram channel.

"It is true that they are attacking us with drones, including fibre-optic drones, but we have teams working on countermeasures and we will solve this issue... We will intensify our blows, increase our firepower, and we will crush them."

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has ordered the reopening of international internet access, state media reported on Monday, following a near-90-day blackout imposed in the aftermath of the war involving the United States and Israel. The report, citing the head of public relations at Iran’s Communications Ministry, said the directive has been issued but did not clarify how or when connectivity to the global web would be restored.

According to internet monitoring group NetBlocks, the blackout has now lasted 87 consecutive days, amounting to more than 2,000 hours of restricted access. The organisation said the shutdown has significantly reduced transparency and deepened uncertainty for detainees, dissidents and other affected groups inside the country.

Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar, received a phone call on Monday from Sultan Haitham bin Tarik of Oman, according to QNA.

During the call, the two leaders exchanged Eid Al Adha greetings and discussed bilateral relations as well as key regional and international developments.

The discussion also touched on ongoing efforts to de-escalate tensions, with the Omani Sultan praising the Emir’s role in promoting dialogue and supporting peaceful solutions amid the current crisis.

Both leaders stressed the importance of reaching a swift resolution to help safeguard regional security and stability.

Just weeks after demanding Iran’s “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER,” President Donald Trump is now facing a very different political problem: Some of his own fiercest Iran hawks fear he is preparing to settle for a deal they believe leaves Tehran stronger, richer and still dangerous.

As reports emerge of a possible US-Iran agreement to gradually end the war, reopen the Strait of Hormuz and restart negotiations over Iran’s nuclear programme, alarm is spreading across the Republican national security establishment that once strongly backed Trump’s military campaign.

What began as a war aimed at crushing Iran’s strategic power now risks becoming a messy compromise that critics say could hand Tehran leverage it never had before the conflict.

Read more here.

Iran's sports minister said FIFA has promised the country's men's football team will receive visas to play in the United States at the World Cup this summer despite the ongoing Middle East war, local media reported on Monday.

Iran's participation at the global spectacle has been in question for months because it is being co-hosted by the US, which along with Israel began bombing Iran on February 28, sparking a wider regional war.

"The FIFA president promised us that all our players would receive visas. There is no reason why our players should not receive visas," said minister Ahmad Donyamali, quoted by local news agency ISNA.

"I hope that all the conditions will be met so that the national team can participate in the tournament in a calm and orderly manner."

The Iranian squad will now be based in Tijuana on the Mexican border with the United States during the tournament, according to the Islamic republic's football federation.

Mexico has "no problem" in hosting the Iranian squad for the 2026 World Cup, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday.

Iran had announced on Saturday they wanted to be based in the Mexican border city of Tijuana and not in Tucson, Arizona, as originally planned.

"The United States did not want the Iranian squad on their territory," she said at a press conference.

"They (Iran) therefore asked us: 'can we be based in Mexico? and we replied yes, no problem'."

US President Donald Trump on Monday said Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations must normalise ties with Israel as part of efforts to reach a deal with Iran, adding fresh uncertainty into protracted peace negotiations.

Progress over a deal to end the conflict that broke out in late February has slowed as both sides talked down the prospect of an imminent agreement, with Tehran saying they were not close to signing and Trump warning he was in no hurry.

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Iran’s navy said 32 vessels have transited the Strait of Hormuz after receiving clearance “in coordination with the security arrangements of the IRGC Navy,” according to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency.

The report said the approved ships included oil tankers, container vessels and other commercial traffic.

Israel's military warned residents of 10 villages, most of them in southern Lebanon, on Monday to evacuate their homes ahead of expected strikes against alleged Hezbollah targets.

"In light of Hezbollah's violation of the ceasefire agreement, the Israel Defense Forces are compelled to operate against it with force," the military's Arabic-language spokesman, Colonel Avichay Adraee, said in a social media post, listing the names of the villages.

"For your safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and move at least 1,000 metres away from these towns and villages to open areas."

Later on Monday, Adraee issued another evacuation warning directed at residents of a building in Rashidiyeh and two buildings in Burj al-Shamali, near the city of Tyre.

"We urge residents of the building marked in red on the attached map, as well as nearby buildings: you are located near a facility used by the Hezbollah terrorist organisation," he wrote on X.

"For your safety, you must evacuate immediately and move at least 300 metres away."

Iran's top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf arrived in Qatar on Monday as part of the "diplomatic process" to end the war with the United States, state media reported.

An Iranian delegation headed by "Ghalibaf, travelled to Doha today. This trip comes as part of the diplomatic process", said the official IRNA news agency, adding that talks will be held to end the war that broke out on February 28.

Other media in Iran including Tasnim and Fars news agencies said the delegation included Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi as well as Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati.

US President Donald Trump on Monday urged Muslim-majority nations including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Pakistan to normalize relations with Israel as part of the Iran peace deal.

In a lengthy social media post, Trump listed countries whose leaders he spoke with on Saturday about efforts to end the war with Iran, adding: "I stated that, after all the work done by the United States to try and pull this very complex puzzle together, it should be mandatory that all of these Countries, at a minimum, simultaneously, sign onto the Abraham Accords."

A high-level Iranian delegation that includes the country's top negotiator and central bank chief were in Doha on Monday to discuss a peace agreement with the US and the release of frozen funds, a source briefed on the matter told AFP.

"Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Doha earlier today for talks on ongoing diplomatic efforts to end the conflict," the source said, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

The visit will focus, the source added, "on issues relating to the Strait and highly enriched uranium. The Central Bank governor is part of the delegation to discuss the issue of frozen funds, which is addressed in the MoU as part of an eventual final deal".

Oil prices dropped back below $100 a barrel on Monday and stock markets rallied as investors raised expectations of a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz following signs that Washington and Iran were edging closer to a deal.

Both North Sea Brent, the international benchmark, and West Texas Intermediate crude futures contracts were down more than five percent in midday trading in Europe as headlines over the weekend suggested progress on talks to end the Middle East war.

A deal could be announced "today", US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday during a visit to New Delhi.

US President Donald Trump said on Monday that a deal with Iran would either be "great and meaningful" or there would be "no deal."

"The deal with Iran will either be a great and meaningful one, or there will be no deal," he wrote on Truth Social.

Pope Leo XIV on Monday labelled "outdated" the concept of a "just war" put forward by US President Donald Trump's administration, warning that "humanity is slipping into a violent culture of power".

In his first encyclical, a sort of manifesto, US-born Leo focused mainly on the rise of artificial intelligence but also returned to an anti-war message that has caused tensions with Washington.

"Today, more than ever, without prejudice to the right to self-defense in the strictest sense, it is important to reaffirm that the 'just war' theory, which has all too often been used to justify any kind of war, is now outdated," he wrote in Magnifica Humanitas (Magnificent Humanity).

The pope has been a high-profile critic of the Middle East war which started with US and Israeli air strikes on Iran in February.

He condemned Trump's threat to destroy Iran as "truly unacceptable" and urged Americans to demand that US lawmakers "work for peace".

Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday, state media reported, as diplomatic efforts by several countries to formally end the Iran war drag on.

Sharif's meeting with Xi in Beijing, reported by Chinese state news agency Xinhua, followed talks earlier in the day with Premier Li Qiang, the country's number-two leader.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Israel's withdrawal from the country's south was a "non-negotiable" demand that authorities would pursue through negotiations, days ahead of a new round of talks in Washington.

In a statement commemorating Israel's previous withdrawal from south Lebanon in 2000 after some two decades of occupation, Aoun said that "this year, the anniversary of the liberation comes as Lebanon is weighed down by a painful reality."

"Israeli attacks have not stopped and our dear southern villages are still suffering under a renewed occupation," he said.

"Lebanon will not accept this reality," Aoun said.

"The path to a full Israeli withdrawal will remain an uncompromised, constant national demand that the Lebanese state works to achieve through the option of negotiations," he added.

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has been elected as Iran's Parliament speaker for the seventh time, according to a report by ISNA.

According to the semi-official state-affiliated news outlet, he remained the speaker of the parliament with 235 votes out of 271 votes cast on Monday morning.

The re-election of Iran's top negotiator in talks with the United States comes as peace talks continue to take place between Tehran and Washington.

Speaking at a press briefing, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Email Baqaei on Monday said that the negotiations underway are presently focused on ending the war and that details about the nuclear issue have not been discussed, as reported by ISNA.

According to the semi-official Iranian news agency ISNA, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson said, "The focus of the negotiations is on ending the war, and at this stage, we are not discussing details of the nuclear issue."

When asked about the latest developments on Iran, Rubio told the media, "We're still a work in progress... I think is a pretty solid thing on the table in terms of their ability to open up the straits, get the straits open, and enter into a very real, significant time-limited negotiation on the nuclear matters. And hopefully we can pull it off."

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said discussions on the nuclear issue would take place only if a memorandum of understanding with the United States is finalised.

He noted that while agreement has been reached on several points in a potential MoU with Washington, this does not indicate that a final deal is close.

Baghaei added that if the memorandum is completed, further details — including the nuclear file — would be addressed within a 60-day negotiation period.

Iran's foreign ministry said that Tehran was collecting fees for "navigational services" on ships transiting the strategic Strait of Hormuz, rather than imposing tolls.

"The services that are provided - navigational services in addition to the measures necessary to protect the environment of the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman - require the collection of certain fees," said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei in a weekly press briefing.

He added that Iran was "not seeking to collect tolls".

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said the management of the Strait of Hormuz lies with the countries bordering the strategic waterway.

Speaking on the issue, Baghaei said Tehran does not plan to impose tolls on vessels passing through the strait, but noted that any services provided in the area could involve charges.

“We are in contact with the countries bordering the Strait of Hormuz to provide security there and protect their interests,” he said.

Iran said Monday that Tehran and Washington had reached understandings on many issues in exchanges over a deal for ending the war, but warned an agreement was not imminent.

"It is correct to say that we have reached a conclusion on a large portion of the issues under discussion," foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said, during a weekly news briefing.

"But to say that this means the signing of an agreement is imminent - no one can make such a claim," he said, accusing Washington of shifting its positions.

Islamabad's key negotiator between the United States and Iran, army chief Asim Munir, is in Beijing alongside the country's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for talks with Chinese leaders, Pakistan television showed on Monday.

Munir was in Tehran on Friday and Saturday alongside Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi as part of ongoing mediation efforts to formally end the Iran war.

China has said it would work with Pakistan to "make positive contributions to the early restoration of peace and stability in the Middle East".

Three people were killed after Israeli drone strikes targeted vehicles on the Kafr Rumman Jarmaq highway and the Jarmaq Khardali road in Lebanon’s Nabatieh region, according to the country’s National News Agency.

The report said the attacks hit moving vehicles in separate incidents along the two roads in southern Lebanon.

Gold prices rose more than 1 percent on Monday, supported by a weaker dollar and easing oil prices, as investors weighed prospects of a breakthrough in US-Iran peace negotiations.

Spot gold was up 1.1 percent at $4,559.29 per ounce, as of "‹0359 GMT. Meanwhile, US gold futures for June delivery gained 0.8 percent to $4,560.30.

Spot silver climbed 2.8 percent to $77.61 per ounce, platinum rose 1.9 percent to $1,958.35, and palladium was up 2.3 percent "‹at $1,379.31.

Iran's Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is living in secrecy at an undisclosed location with limited access to the outside world, CBS News reported on Sunday, citing US intelligence.

According to the report, the Iranian Supreme Leader is only reached by a labyrinth of couriers, as per US officials with knowledge of the matter, and the Iranian officials authorised to work with the Trump administration are having a tough time communicating inside of their own government system, which is a key reason why the negotiations have been slow to emerge.

CBS said that when the US sends proposed details, the difficulty in reaching the supreme leader results in a long delay before the US receives a response, two of the officials said.

The report mentioned that while the most cautious measures are being taken by the supreme leader, even officials at the highest levels of the Iranian government are not aware of his whereabouts and have no way to contact him directly.

Israel said a soldier was killed in southern Lebanon, taking to 23 the number of its troops killed in the war with Hezbollah.

A military statement named him as 19-year-old Sergeant Nehoray Leizer of the 601st Combat Engineering Battalion, who "fell in combat in southern Lebanon".

During the incident in which Leizer was killed, "an additional soldier was severely injured", the Israeli military said separately on Telegram.

A total of 24 Israelis have been killed in the conflict, 23 soldiers and one civilian contractor, since hostilities began on March 2.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that a deal to end the war with Iran could materialise "today", adding that Israel had the right to defend itself against attack.

"We thought we might have some news last night, maybe today, I wouldn't read too much into it," Rubio said in New Delhi, referring to the potential agreement.

"We have what I think is a pretty solid thing on the table in terms of their ability to open up the straits, get the straits open," he told reporters as he departed the Indian capital, where he has been on an official visit.

"It has a lot of support in the Gulf... every country that we've walked through it (with) understands it's not just very reasonable, but it's the right thing for the world to get done."

Rubio also voiced confidence that Iran would "enter into a very real, significant, time-limited negotiation on the nuclear matter".

He addressed reporters ahead of the next leg of his India visit, which will see him travel to Agra, the northern city famous for the Taj Mahal.

Rubio's remarks came after US President Donald Trump tempered expectations of a deal, saying on Sunday he had told his negotiators not to "rush".

"He's not in a hurry, he's not going to make a bad deal, and the president's not going to make a bad agreement," Rubio said of Trump.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Israel would retain the right to defend itself under any potential deal, underscoring Washington’s continued security commitment to its ally.

Japan's Nikkei share index soared more than three percent on Monday on hopes of a deal to end to the US-Iran war, despite President Donald Trump downplaying its imminence.

At around 0145 GMT, the Nikkei 225 was up 3.2 percent at 65,363.57 points.

Oil prices plunged more than five percent in Asian early trading on Monday as hopes of a US-Iran deal to end the Middle East war rose despite comments from President Donald Trump downplaying its imminence.

As of around 2300 GMT on Sunday, the price of North Sea Brent crude slipped 5.1 percent to $98.22 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate fell 5.2 percent to $91.57 a barrel.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has accused Hezbollah of running a “deliberate campaign” to destabilise Lebanon amid continued clashes with Israeli forces in the south of the country. His remarks come as Israel carries out strikes despite a recently announced ceasefire agreement.

Rubio voiced support for the Lebanese government’s reconstruction and recovery efforts, while alleging Hezbollah is pushing the country towards “chaos and destruction.” Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem, meanwhile, urged Beirut to reverse moves against the group and criticised US-backed sanctions.

The Trump administration is continuing diplomatic efforts to mediate between Israel and Lebanon, even as tensions on the ground persist despite the ceasefire deal.

India's state-run fuel companies raised petrol and diesel prices for the fourth time in 10 days on Monday, as the Middle East war strains supplies to the world's fastest-growing major economy.

Automobile fuel prices have increased by five percent since the war broke out in February, prompting Iran's near-total blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical energy corridor.

India, the world's third-largest oil buyer, normally sources about half of its crude through the vital waterway.

Fuel rates vary across the country but prices have broadly been increased by a little over two rupees ($0.02) after the latest adjustment.

In New Delhi, petrol prices rose to 102.12 rupees from 99.5 rupees, while diesel is now at 95.20 rupees.

The hike comes days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said restrictions on fuel use were necessary to save foreign currency spent on imports.

Britain’s Royal Navy is preparing a mine-clearing operation in the Strait of Hormuz while awaiting a possible peace deal between the US, Iran and regional allies. The RFA Lyme Bay, currently stationed near Gibraltar, is being loaded with drones, sonar systems and explosives as part of a planned international mission led by the UK and France.

The operation is designed to reopen the strategic waterway, where tensions have disrupted shipping and driven up global energy costs, with more than 6,000 vessels reportedly affected. Naval commanders say advanced autonomous systems and remotely operated vehicles will be used to detect and neutralise potential sea mines, allowing safer passage for commercial traffic.

However, officials say it remains unclear whether mines are actually present or when, or if, the deployment will proceed, as talks on a broader peace agreement are still ongoing. The mission would only be launched after hostilities end, with Britain emphasising readiness while diplomatic negotiations continue.

US President Donald Trump said any Iran agreement he signs would be different from the nuclear deal reached under former President Barack Obama, calling it “the exact opposite.” He said the Obama-era Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action gave Iran a “clear and open path to a nuclear weapon.”

Writing on Truth Social, Trump said his potential deal would be “good and proper” but stressed it is not yet finalised or fully negotiated. He added that critics should not comment on details they “know nothing about,” insisting his approach would avoid what he described as past “bad deals.”

US President Donald J. Trump defended ongoing negotiations with Iran, calling it more professional and productive — sharply contrasting them with the 2015 Iran nuclear deal negotiated under former President Barack Obama.

He also insisted the current talks are proceeding deliberately with the US maintaining leverage through a naval blockade. 

Day 86: US-Iran talks: Trump says 'I don’t make bad deals'

Day 85: Trump: Iran deal ‘largely negotiated’, Hormuz to open

Day 84: UAE backs WHO move against Iran's attacks on civilians

Day 83: Trump rejects tolls in Hormuz: 'We want it free'

Day 82: Trump says US-Iran talks are ‘right on the borderline’

Day 81: Iran’s position 'unclear', deal 'uncertain': VP Vance

Day 80: Trump says 'holding off on attack on Iran tomorrow'

Day 79: Trump says 'clock is ticking' for Iran

Day 78: Iran plans new Strait of Hormuz toll system

Day 77: Israel and Lebanon extend ceasefire by 45 days: US

Day 76: World leaders call for security in Strait of Hormuz

Day 75: Trump arrives in Beijing for summit with Xi

Day 74: Iran signals potential 90% Uranium enrichment

Day 73: Trump calls Iranian response 'totally unacceptable'

Day 72: 'As of today, Tehran’s restraint is over': Iran official

Day 71: Iran keeps US waiting on response to peace plan

Day 70: US fires on Iran tankers as talks hang in balance