Iran will reply decisively to any renewed hostile motion, senior commander warns
Iran’s armed forces are able to ship an “immediate and decisive response” to any renewed hostile motion by its adversaries, Ali Abdollahi, commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, was quoted by the Tasnim information company as having mentioned.
He mentioned Tehran had the higher hand militarily, together with in the administration of the strait of Hormuz, and wouldn’t permit Donald Trump to “create false narratives over the situation on the ground.”
Though Iran had briefly opened the strait of Hormuz on Friday, it closed it again (to “hostile” countries at least) on Saturday as a result of the US wouldn’t carry its counter-blockade.
The commander’s feedback come after the Iranian parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who is predicted to go the Iranian delegation if peace talks happen in Pakistan, mentioned yesterday night that his nation wouldn’t attend negotiations whereas beneath risk – and warned they have been “prepared to reveal new cards on the battlefield”.
Trump, who sees the resumption of delivery ranges in the strait of Hormuz to pre-war ranges as a precedence, has threatened to renew bombing if an settlement isn’t reached by Wednesday’s deadline.
Key occasions
Belgium’s international minister Maxime Prevot has described Israel’s navy actions in Lebanon as “totally unacceptable”.
“Israel’s conduct is completely unacceptable. Of course, we must firmly condemn Hezbollah’s initial attacks, which, in seeking to show solidarity with Iran, dragged Lebanon into a war it did not want, as well as Israel’s disproportionate and indiscriminate response,” Prevot mentioned forward of a gathering with EU international ministers in Luxembourg.
He additionally mentioned Belgium is asking for a minimum of a partial suspension of the EU’s Association’s Agreement with Israel, including that Belgium is “aware that a full suspension is probably out of reach given the positions of the various European countries” ( see put up at 09.19 for extra particulars).
Israel began a war on Lebanon on 2 March when Hezbollah, the Iranian backed Lebanese militant group and political social gathering, launched rocket hearth at Israel after US-Israeli airstrikes killed former Iranian supreme chief, Ali Khamenei, in Tehran.
The IDF responded with a wave of intense strikes throughout Lebanon, concentrating on what it claimed was Hezbollah infrastructure, although many civilians have been killed (over 2,290, in response to the well being ministry), properties destroyed and over 1.2 million individuals displaced throughout the nation.
During the war, Israel additionally launched a floor invasion a number of kilometres into Lebanese territory, with a stated goal to push Hezbollah again from the border in order to cease the flexibility of the group to fireplace rockets into communities in northern Israel. Israeli officers now say Israel will keep in management of dozens of cities and villages as a part of what it describes as a safety buffer zone – however from the bottom this appears like a prelude to long run occupation.
The US state division will host new talks on Thursday between Israel and Lebanon, an American official informed the AFP information company, after a earlier assembly noticed the beginning of a 10-day ceasefire that took impact on 16 April.
Hezbollah is of the view that direct peace talks are a type of nationwide humiliation and are about making an attempt to strain the group into laying down its weapons. The Lebanese president, Joseph Aoun, who needs to finish the Israeli occupation of southern areas of his nation and cease future Israeli assaults, is in favour of partaking in the talks.
No Iranian delegation has departed for Pakistan but – state TV
Iranian state TV is reporting that no Iranian delegation has but departed for Pakistan to attend peace talks with the US. It isn’t clear but if they are going to attend the talks at this time regardless of strain from mediators together with Pakistan to take action.
The nation’s state broadcaster wrote in a put up on Telegram that “no delegation from Iran has travelled to Islamabad, neither a primary nor a secondary, neither initial nor follow-up.”
Axios, in the meantime, is reporting that the US vice-president JD Vance is because of go away for Islamabad by Tuesday morning for talks with Iran, a day earlier than the ceasefire expires.
Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump’s particular envoy who typically acts like a de facto secretary of state, and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and adviser, are additionally anticipated to journey to the Pakistani capital for the talks.
Iran has been stalling due to potential strain from the Revolutionary Guards on the negotiators to undertake a firmer line and insist there can’t be diplomacy whereas the US is blockading the strait of Hormuz, in response to the Axios report.
Iran holds a deep distrust of the US as it has been attacked earlier than throughout earlier negotiations.
You can sustain with the newest developments on the EU and from across the continent in our Europe stay weblog:
Jakub Krupa
Spain’s international minister José Manuel Albares has simply confirmed that Spain, Slovenia and Ireland have requested a dialogue on suspending the EU’s affiliation treaty with Israel at at this time’s assembly of the bloc’s international ministers.
He mentioned the method was in regards to the EU’s “credibility” on all different points, because the bloc is predicted to face “for the same principles” in all places.
He mentioned that if the EU is “not capable to say today to Israel” that it is predicted to respect human rights and worldwide legislation, and not make war a international coverage software, “we are going to lose that credibility.”
“We have to say the same thing that we say to Russia concerning Ukraine, and that we say in other scenarios, and since the last time we brought this same position, things have worsened,” he mentioned.
European Union has to say at this time very clearly to Israel that that change is required. That’s not the proper path, and that whereas Israel continues in that path of a everlasting perpetual war, we won’t be able to [run our relations] in the identical method.
He mentioned that if suspending the affiliation treaty in full is unacceptable for some members, the bloc ought to take into account suspending a minimum of the commerce component of the deal.
Israel is constant its assaults on Gaza, the place the humanitarian state of affairs stays dire regardless of a ceasefire.
At least 4 Palestinian individuals have been killed by Israeli assaults in the southern and northern elements of the Gaza Strip to this point at this time, Palestinian news agency Wafa is reporting.
In its newest replace, Gaza’s well being ministry mentioned a minimum of 72,560 Palestinian individuals have been killed and 172,317 others injured in Israeli assaults on Gaza since 7 October 2023.
At least 784 Palestinian individuals have been killed in Israeli assaults since a ceasefire got here into impact in October 2025, in response to the ministry, whose figures the UN typically discover dependable.
Most of the individuals killed have been civilians and the true demise toll is probably going a lot larger given the variety of individuals nonetheless buried beneath rubble throughout the territory.
Aid groups say damaged infrastructure and inconsistent electrical energy have turned untreated sewage right into a rising public well being threat, and there’s a view that the US and Israeli war on Iran has resulted in even larger costs for meals and different necessities.
Iran will reply decisively to any renewed hostile motion, senior commander warns
Iran’s armed forces are able to ship an “immediate and decisive response” to any renewed hostile motion by its adversaries, Ali Abdollahi, commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, was quoted by the Tasnim information company as having mentioned.
He mentioned Tehran had the higher hand militarily, together with in the administration of the strait of Hormuz, and wouldn’t permit Donald Trump to “create false narratives over the situation on the ground.”
Though Iran had briefly opened the strait of Hormuz on Friday, it closed it again (to “hostile” countries at least) on Saturday as a result of the US wouldn’t carry its counter-blockade.
The commander’s feedback come after the Iranian parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who is predicted to go the Iranian delegation if peace talks happen in Pakistan, mentioned yesterday night that his nation wouldn’t attend negotiations whereas beneath risk – and warned they have been “prepared to reveal new cards on the battlefield”.
Trump, who sees the resumption of delivery ranges in the strait of Hormuz to pre-war ranges as a precedence, has threatened to renew bombing if an settlement isn’t reached by Wednesday’s deadline.
The US-Israel war on Iran is creating the worst power crisis ever confronted by the world, the top of the International Energy Agency (IEA), which advises 32 member international locations on power provide and safety, mentioned.
“This is indeed the biggest crisis in history,” Fatih Birol informed France Inter radio in an interview broadcast this morning.
“The crisis is already huge, if you combine the effects of the petrol crisis and the gas crisis with Russia.”
Birol has said it will take about two years to get well the power output misplaced in the Middle East from the war there.
In response to US-Israeli assaults on Iran in late February, Tehran successfully closed the strait of Hormuz to vessels, solely permitting a comparatively small variety of ships from “friendly” international locations like China, Malaysia and Pakistan by means of.
The efficient closure of the strait, by way of which about 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied pure gasoline is normally transported by means of, and harm to regional infrastructure have produced the biggest disruption to the worldwide oil market in its historical past, the IEA mentioned.
It has result in fears of a worldwide recession and despatched world power costs hovering, prompting international locations to implement gasoline rationing and restrictions on electrical energy consumption.
The US continues to blockade the strait after seizing an Iranian-flagged cargo ship on Sunday, solely prolonging the financial ache felt world wide, particularly for poorer international locations that rely on power imports.
The UN safety council has condemned the killing of a French peacekeeper and the injuring of three others in an assault in southern Lebanon.
The UN interim drive in Lebanon (Unifil) mentioned on the weekend {that a} patrol clearing explosive ordnance alongside a street in Ghanduriyah village to re-establish hyperlinks with remoted Unifil positions got here beneath “small-arms fire from non-state-actors”.
The UN assertion on Monday mentioned:
The members of the safety council condemned in the strongest phrases the assault … [and] reaffirmed their full help for Unifil.
France has blamed Hezbollah for the assault on Saturday, however the Lebanese militant group and political social gathering denied involvement.
Hezbollah known as for “caution in making judgements and assigning blame regarding the incident, pending the Lebanese army’s investigation to determine the full circumstances”.
Here are a number of the newest photographs coming in from across the Middle East in the ninth week because the US-Israel war on Iran started.
Hannah Ellis-Petersen
Continued from last post:
The Iranian aspect had sought to painting the talks as merely a primary step. However, actions taken by Trump in the aftermath – together with a US naval blockade on the strait of Hormuz and inflammatory claims made in social media posts – had led the Iranians to push again from recommendations of additional negotiations beneath the specter of “force”.
Last week, Pakistan’s military chief spent three days in Tehran, in an try and salvage the negotiations and get a second spherical of Islamabad talks again on monitor.
While each side initially agreed to returning to negotiations this week, the Iranians then reversed their resolution over the weekend after the US navy seized an Iranian ship, an act they known as “piracy” that will have “grave consequences”. By Wednesday morning, it was nonetheless unclear if Iran can be sending their staff again to Islamabad as hoped.
Speaking on Tuesday night time, Trump mentioned Iran must negotiate or “face problems like they’ve never seen”.
Hannah Ellis-Petersen
For Pakistan, a lot is driving on the success of this second spherical of talks.
Pakistan’s authorities and navy have been intricately concerned and invested in bringing a couple of ceasefire between the US and Iran for weeks, and have been credited with pushing each side to the desk.
It was efforts led by Pakistan’s military chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, that helped finalise a brief ceasefire on 8 April, bringing US president Donald Trump again from the brink after his risk to annihilate Iran’s complete civilisation.
It was seen as a diplomatic triumph for Pakistan when each side turned up for the primary spherical of talks in Islamabad on 11 April, whilst distrust ran excessive between their negotiating groups. Iran despatched two planeloads of senior officers to attend, which was seen as an indication of their seriousness to deliver a couple of everlasting finish to the war.
The talks began not directly by means of Pakistani mediators, and then moved to face-to-face talks, led by US vice-president JD Vance on the US aspect and parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on the Iranian aspect.
The negotiations happened over 21 hours, throughout which era Vance was mentioned to have phoned president Donald Trump greater than a dozen occasions.
But as Vance boarded a flight again to Washington on 12 April, it was empty handed, having claimed the Iranians wouldn’t attain a deal on their nuclear programme.
Continued subsequent put up
Tehran denounces US seizure of Iranian ship
Iran has condemned what it labelled the “maritime piracy” of the US seizing an Iranian-flagged container ship and says it is a “further complication” of the Middle East state of affairs.
The US navy attacked the ship on Sunday as it tried to get previous an American blockade close to the strait of Hormuz – the primary such interception because the blockade of Iranian ports started final week.
Iran’s international affairs ministry known as for the instant launch of the vessel and its sailors, crew and their households, saying the seizure not solely violated worldwide legislation however was one other “clear violation” of the ceasefire settlement with the US.
The ministry’s assertion on Tuesday – which Iran’s semi-official Tasnim information company posted on X – mentioned Iran had drawn the UN’s consideration to the incident and known as for a “serious condemnation and response from international institutions and responsible governments”.
US Central Command mentioned marines had departed the USS Tripoli assault ship by helicopter and rappelled on to the Touska on Sunday.
The weekend information threw into query Donald Trump’s announcement that US negotiators would head to Pakistan for one other spherical of talks amid the expiry of the US-Iran ceasefire on Wednesday.
Trump mentioned the ship was beneath US treasury sanctions due to a “prior history of illegal activity”.
Trump says recovering Iran’s uranium will probably be ‘lengthy and tough’
Donald Trump has mentioned retrieving uranium from Iran will probably be a “long and difficult” course of in the wake of the US bombing of Iranian nuclear amenities final 12 months.
“Operation Midnight Hammer was a complete and total obliteration of the Nuclear Dust sites in Iran,” the president posted on his Truth Social platform in a single day to Tuesday.
Therefore, digging it out will probably be an extended and tough course of.”
Trump has used nuclear mud to discuss with Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium but additionally to nuclear supplies left from the June strikes.
The US president claimed after the bombardment that it had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program, however as Peter Beaumont reported, it quickly grew to become obvious this was not true. The bombs had wreaked in depth harm however deep underground websites – burrowed beneath mountains in two websites in explicit, Isfahan and Natanz – couldn’t be destroyed.
In Trump’s newest put up he additionally hit out at information retailers, saying:
Fake News CNN, and different corrupt Media Networks and Platforms, fail to present our nice aviators the credit score they deserve – Always making an attempt to demean and belittle – LOSERS!!!”
The way forward for Iran’s nuclear materials has grow to be a key sticking level between the US and Iran in their ongoing standoff. Trump final week claimed Iran had agreed at hand over its enriched uranium to the US, prompting Iran to say it hadn’t.
Hannah Ellis-Petersen
On Tuesday morning, Islamabad sat poised and able to host a second spherical of talks – whilst uncertainty reigned over whether or not each side would even flip up.
Pakistani officers remained optimistic that the second spherical of negotiations would occur, whilst Iranian ministers mentioned they’d refuse to return to the desk beneath the specter of “force” and it remained unclear precisely when US vice-president JD Vance deliberate to depart Washington for Islamabad.
Roads have been shut down round Islamabad’s five-star Serena resort, the place the primary spherical of negotiations happened over a tense 21 hours, however did not strike any deal.
Over the previous few days, Islamabad and different main cities have been grappling with blackouts lasting greater than seven hours, because the nation faces a grave power scarcity as a result of ongoing blockade of the strait of Hormuz – bringing house the financial gravity of those talks for south Asian international locations.
Neighbouring Bangladesh warned this week that its cell community would quickly face a shutdown as they have been operating out of gasoline to run the facility stations.
Islamabad’s electrical energy board launched an announcement on Monday night time making assurances there can be sufficient electrical energy to make sure that US and Iranian negotiators weren’t plunged into darkness for the period of their assembly.
Opening abstract
Hello and welcome to our stay protection of occasions in the Middle East.
Iran is contemplating attending peace talks with the US in Pakistan, a senior Iranian official mentioned on Monday, after strikes by Islamabad to finish a US blockade of Iran’s ports – a key impediment to Tehran rejoining peace efforts as the tip of a two-week ceasefire nears.
But the official additionally burdened to the Reuters information company that no resolution had been made, whereas Iranian international minister Abbas Araqchi mentioned “continued violations of the ceasefire” by the US have been a serious impediment to persevering with the diplomatic course of.
On Monday night time, Iranian chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf accused Donald Trump on social media of accelerating strain on Tehran by means of the blockade and ceasefire violations, saying Iran rejected negotiating beneath risk and warning that “we have prepared to reveal new cards on the battlefield”.
The two-week ceasefire – set to run out on Wednesday – had gave the impression to be in jeopardy after the US mentioned it seized an Iranian cargo ship on Sunday that attempted to run its blockade and Tehran vowed to retaliate.
In different developments:
Trump mentioned a cope with Iran would occur “relatively quickly”. He additionally mentioned on Truth Social the US wouldn’t carry its blockade till Iran had agreed to a deal and that he believed the nuclear deal the US was negotiating with Tehran can be higher than a 2015 worldwide settlement to curb Tehran’s nuclear program.
US vice-president JD Vance remained in the US on Monday, a supply informed Reuters, denying reviews he was already on his option to Pakistan, in feedback including to the uncertainty over a second spherical of talks. In Islamabad, nevertheless, preparations for the talks gave the impression to be going forward.
Oil costs fell on Tuesday whereas most shares rose on lingering hopes for a deal to finish the US-Iran war and reopen the strait of Hormuz, regardless of Tehran not saying if it would attend.
Iranian international minister Abbas Araghchi and Russian international minister Sergey Lavrov mentioned the battle by cellphone. Lavrov reportedly reiterated the necessity to uphold the ceasefire and proceed diplomatic efforts, whereas Araghchi mentioned Tehran would to attempt to make sure the uninterrupted passage of Russian ships and cargo by means of the Hormuz strait.
The toll of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza on Monday has risen to a minimum of 5, in response to Palestinian well being officers, whereas witnesses mentioned Hamas fighters clashed with gunmen from an Israeli-backed militia.
