Middle East crisis live: Trump insists any Iran deal will be ‘great and meaningful’ amid criticism from fellow Republicans
From 25m ago 11.22 BST Iran deal will either be 'great and meaningful' or there will 'be no deal' at all, Trump says In a
From 25m ago 11.22 BST Iran deal will either be 'great and meaningful' or there will 'be no deal' at all, Trump says In a post on Truth Social, the US president, Donald Trump, has again hit out at US lawmakers who reacted furiously to reports that a proposed deal with Iran contained major concessions from Washington. “I laugh at all of the Dumocrats, RINOS, and Fools who know nothing about the potential deal I am making with Iran, things that haven’t even been negotiated yet,” Trump wrote. “The deal with Iran will either be a great and meaningful one, or there will be no deal. It will be the exact opposite of the JCPOA disaster negotiated by the failed Obama Administration, which was a direct and open path to a Nuclear Weapon for Iran,” he said, referring to the 2015 deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, to limit Iran’s nuclear enrichment in return for sanctions relief. Trump withdrew from that international deal in 2018, saying the agreement was “rotten” and complaining it only limited Iran’s nuclear activities for a fixed period. He has claimed the new deal will be far superior, without saying how. Share Updated at 11.37 BST 35m ago 11.12 BST Israel issues more forced evacuation orders for Lebanese towns and villages The Israeli military issued an evacuation order for 10 Lebanese towns and villages this morning as it continues displacing residents ahead of attacks it says are targeting Hezbollah although many civilians are being killed in them. You can read more information about the latest evacuation order in this post on X. Israel has continued striking Lebanon regularly, both south and north of the Litani River in south Lebanon, despite a US-brokered ceasefire coming into effect last month. It says it is targeting Hezbollah sites including weapons storage facilities and command centres. Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group, has fired rockets and drones into northern Israel and against Israeli troops in southern Lebanon as it rejects pushes for its disarmament and Israeli occupation of some of southern Lebanon. View image in fullscreen Smoke rises following an Israeli strike on Lebanon’s Nabatieh on 24 May 2026. Photograph: Abbas Fakih/AFP/Getty Images According to the Lebanese health ministry, at least 3,111 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since Israel’s renewed war on Lebanon started on 2 March. Israel’s deadly air assault – and ground invasion – were in response to Hezbollah firing rockets at northern Israel after the US and Israel killed the former Iranian supreme leader in Tehran on 28 February. Iran is pushing for an and to Israel’s war on Lebanon as part of its negotiations with the US. As part of the emerging US-Iran deal, Israel could reportedly be allowed to strike Hezbollah if the militant group instigates or carries out attacks, giving the Israeli military large scope going forward.
Share 1h ago 10.45 BST Despite a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel being signed last month, regular Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon have continued unabated. Lebanon’s state-run News agency (NNA) reported this morning that the Israeli army carried out airstrikes in towns in the Bint Jbeil district, and the towns of al-Mansouri, al-Qulaylah and al-Haniyeh were hit by Israeli airstrikes and phosphorus shelling in the Tyre district. The NNA also reported that three people were killed after Israeli warplanes carried out three drone attacks this morning, targeting a vehicle on the Kfar Rumman-Jarmaq highway, another on the Jarmaq-Khardali road, and a motorcycle near the Usersif Hotel. We have not yet been able to independently verify these reports. Share Updated at 10.47 BST 2h ago 10.16 BST In a social media update, the IDF said that a drone was forced to perform an emergency landing in an “open area” in central Israel earlier today due to a technical malfunction. “The aircraft was collected by IDF forces, there is no damage and no casualties,” it wrote in a short statement. Share 2h ago 09.55 BST Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, will not participate in the UN security council meeting in New York due to issues related to a US visa, Al Jazeera quoted the Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei, as having said earlier. Share 2h ago 09.31 BST Ebrahim Rezaei, the spokesperson of the Iranian parliament’s national security and foreign policy commission, has said that time is working against the US and warned that Iran does not respond well to threats. In a post on X, he wrote: double quotation mark During the military war, our tactic was an eye for an eye; in the diplomatic war, it is action against action. Do not believe the bluff of the failed president; time is against the Americans. If they want an agreement, they should negotiate; if they want $6 gas, they should stand firm and bluff until the grass grows under their feet. Iran does not bow to force or threats. The US has repeatedly raised the prospect of a resumption of attacks on Iran if the negotiations do not bear fruit. Share 3h ago 09.11 BST The Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson cast doubt about how trustworthy the US were, saying there are no “guarantees” that Washington will honour whatever deal is agreed upon. The current US-Israeli war on Iran and the 12-day war launched by Israel last June both began when Iran and the US were engaging in talks over Iran’s nuclear programme. Esmail Baghaei also told journalists in the briefing that the focus of this phase of talks is not on “the nuclear issue” but “ending the war”, including Israel’s assault on Lebanon.
View image in fullscreen Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said that Tehran does not care about “threats”. Photograph: Foad Ashtari/SOPA Images/Shutterstock Share Updated at 10.49 BST 3h ago 08.54 BST Iran says progress on many issues with US but agreement not 'imminent' The Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei has been speaking at a news briefing about the contours of a potential deal with the US to end the war. “It is correct to say that we have reached a conclusion on a large portion of the issues under discussion,” he said. “But to say that this means the signing of an agreement is imminent – no one can make such a claim.” A potential deal reportedly includes a 60-day ceasefire extension, reopening the strait of Hormuz to international vessels and a plan for further negotiations over Iran’s much contested nuclear programme. However, the deal has to be approved by Iran’s leadership, including the apparently hard to reach supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, which could take some time. Share 4h ago 07.58 BST Lead Iranian negotiator re-elected as parliament speaker Iran’s top negotiator in talks with the US, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, has been reelected as the country’s parliamentary speaker, semi-official Fars news agency reported on Monday. View image in fullscreen Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf Photograph: Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters Share Updated at 10.11 BST 4h ago 07.47 BST During military conflict Iran’s tactic was “an eye for an eye,” and in diplomatic conflict it is “action for action“, Ebrahim Rezaei, the spokesperson of the Iranian parliament, has said. In a posting on X on Monday, he said: double quotation mark During the military war, our tactic was an eye for an eye; in the diplomatic war, it is action against action. Do not believe the bluff of the failed president; time is against the Americans. If they want an agreement, they should negotiate; if they want $6 gas, they should stand firm and bluff until the grass grows under their feet. Iran does not bow to force or threats. Share 4h ago 07.35 BST Iran executed a man over charges related to the anti-government protests that took place nationwide in January, state media reported on Monday. The individual was identified as Abbas Akbari, Reuters cited state media as saying. Share 4h ago 07.24 BST Israeli strikes pounded south and east Lebanon on Sunday despite the ceasefire as the leader of Hezbollah expressed hope for an agreement between Iran and the US that also ends hostilities in Lebanon. Lebanon’s health ministry raised the overall toll in the war since 2 March to 3,123 killed. It said two people including a paramedic from the Hezbollah-affiliated Islamic Health Committee were killed on Sunday in Israeli raids.
A day earlier 11 people including six women and a child were killed in a single strike in the south’s Sir al-Gharbiyeh, the ministry said on Sunday, decrying a “massacre”. Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have continued attacks on each other despite the nominal ceasefire, as mentioned. View image in fullscreen People gather at the site of an overnight Israeli strike in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre on Saturday. Photograph: Aziz Taher/Reuters Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said that “God willing, this [Iran-US] agreement will be finalised... and accordingly that we too will be among those included in this agreement” on a full cessation of hostilities. After Qassem’s speech, US secretary of state Marco Rubio accused Hezbollah of trying to plunge Lebanon “back into chaos”. Share 5h ago 07.10 BST Israel said on Monday a soldier was killed in southern Lebanon, taking to 23 the number of its troops killed in the war with Iran-backed Hezbollah. A military statement cited by AFP named him as 19-year-old Sgt 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 resumed on 2 March. View image in fullscreen Israeli soldiers carry the casket of Staff Sgt Noam Hamburger, who was killed in a Lebanese drone attack on northern Israel, during his funeral in Atlit, Israel, on Sunday. Photograph: Ariel Schalit/AP Share Updated at 07.13 BST 5h ago 07.04 BST Marco Rubio also told reporters in New Delhi that “Israel always has a right to protect itself”. “If Hezbollah is going to launch missiles or launches missiles at them, Israel has every right to respond to that, or to prevent that from happening,” the US secretary of state was quoted as saying. double quotation mark That’s always been understood. It’s being understood during the ceasefire.” Israel and Hezbollah have continued trading strikes during the US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, which began on 16 April and was recently extended by 45 days. The potential deal between the US and Iran to end their war also reportedly requires Israel to stop its offensive in Lebanon. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Donald Trump had reaffirmed his support for Israel’s right “to defend itself against threats on all fronts, including in Lebanon”. Share Updated at 07.05 BST
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