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 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.
Gold has gained on hopes of a potential US-Iran ceasefire, but prices are on track for a third straight monthly decline as concerns about energy-driven inflation bolster expectations of higher interest rates, Reuters reports.
Spot gold was up 0.9 per cent at $4,532.03 per ounce, as of 11:51 GMT (4:51pm PKT). Bullion fell to a two-month low of $4,365.76 yesterday, but closed higher. The metal has fallen around 2pc so far this month.
US gold futures for August delivery rose 0.7opc to $4,562.60.
“Gold remains negatively correlated to oil, which impacts inflation and monetary policies. Lower oil prices reduces the probability of rate hikes, which is positive for gold,” said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo.
A Greek national has been charged with assisting a foreign intelligence service linked to Iran, British police said on Friday according to Reuters, over the targeting of a journalist working for London-based television station Iran International.
Lebanese and Israeli military delegations are to hold security talks at the Pentagon today, AFP reports, during which Beirut will demand Israel halt its attacks, which have intensified in recent days.
The development comes as the United States and Hezbollah’s backer Iran, are negotiating with Tehran, which insists the fighting in Lebanon must be included in any agreement ending the Middle East war.
Lebanon’s delegation includes six officers, headed by the army’s director of operations, Georges Rizkallah.
A Lebanese military source told AFP the delegation will “emphasise the need for a ceasefire, and will present the army’s plan for a state weapons monopoly and the extension of state authority across the country”.
A humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding in Lebanon during Israel’s intensified invasion with some aid organisations saying they fear they may have to pull out because of relentless attacks, according to Al Jazeera.
“If the security situation continues to deteriorate, we might have to leave certain areas. There are certain red lines we cannot cross for the security of our teams,” Jeremy Ristord, with medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF), told Al Jazeera.
About 40 hospitals in the south are already closed, he noted.
“On top of that, rescue teams are already working under intense strain in adapting their interventions in the face of the degrading security situation,” said Ristord, noting rescuers fear “double-tap strikes” by Israel.
Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City President Jeffrey Schmid has said that already-hot levels of inflation make it harder to assume the current energy shock will have only a temporary impact on pricing and can be ignored by the central bank.
“My primary concern is inflation, which is too hot and has been above target for too long,” Schmid said in the text of a speech to be delivered before a conference in Iceland.
“I place little stock in assuming that the most recent runup in prices is transitory within an acceptable time horizon, and as such, my focus remains on inflation in setting the correct course for policy.”
He added: “Now is not the time to let down our guard, given how long inflation has been above the central banks 2pc target.”
Eleven children have been killed every 24 hours on average in the past week in Lebanon, as Israel expanded strikes across the country in spite of a ceasefire being in place, Reuters reports.
A total of 77 children have been killed or injured in the last seven days, Unicef said. Since the ceasefire began in April 55 children have been killed, and 212 injured, according to the agency.
Unicef spokesperson Ricardo Pires described the toll as staggering.
