Israeli opposition leader Lapid says Trump’s emerging deal with Iran is ‘bad for the region’
The peace deal being discussed between the US and Iran fails to achieve any of Israel’s goals for the war, Israel’s opposition leader Yair Lapid said on Monday, as he accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of failing to influence a better agreement.
Lapid, who is part of an alliance attempting to unseat Netanyahu in elections this year, said details of the emerging deal are “disturbing”.
“The deal is bad for Israel, bad for the region, bad for the citizens of Iran,” Lapid told reporters in Jerusalem.
According to regional officials, under the current deal being discussed Iran would give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium and reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz in exchange for ending a US blockade of Iranian ports and the lifting of sanctions against Iran. Key details on Iran’s nuclear program would then be negotiated during a 60-day period.
It is unclear if the deal will address Iran’s missiles or support for regional militant groups.
Iran says it downed a ‘hostile’ drone over Gulf using new air defence system, state news agencies report
Air defences activated in Iran’s Gulf island of Qeshm, cause unclear, Mehr news agency reports
Iran health official says supreme leader suffered only ‘superficial’ wounds in US-Israel strike
An Iranian health ministry official said Monday the injuries suffered by supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes in late February were only “superficial”, offering a rare account of the day he was wounded.
The 56-year-old has not appeared publicly since he was named as Iran’s supreme leader on March 8, issuing only written statements, fuelling speculation about his health.
In March, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said Mojtaba was “believed to be alive, wounded and disfigured”.
Mojtaba succeeded his father, Ali Khamenei, who was killed in US-Israeli strikes on February 28 that triggered retaliatory Iranian attacks across the region.
On Monday, health ministry spokesman Hossein Kermanpour described the day Mojtaba was wounded and his arrival at a hospital, which he did not identify. “Apart from superficial injuries to the face, head and legs, which caused neither amputation nor any particular medical problem, nothing major had happened,” Kermanpour told ILNA news agency.
Trump demands Saudi Arabia, Qatar sign Abraham Accords as part of Iran peace deal
US President Donald Trump said on Monday negotiations with Iran were “proceeding nicely” and said he asked countries including the UAE, Qatar, Pakistan, Egypt and Jordan to sign onto the Abraham Accords as part of US efforts to reach a deal with Iran.
Trump said those countries would be honored to have Iran as part of the accords, a set of agreements to normalise relations with Israel.
Iran envoys in Doha for talks on possible US-Iran deal, official says
Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf and foreign minister Abbas Araqchi are visiting Doha for talks with Qatar’s prime minister on a possible US-Iran deal to end the war, an official on the visit said on Monday.
The blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium — a thorny negotiating point in any deal due to questions concerning Iran’s nuclear capacity — are key topics on the agenda.
Russia’s Putin, Bahraini King discuss need for swift end to Iran crisis
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa discussed by phone the
need to find a rapid diplomatic resolution to the Iran crisis, the Kremlin said on Monday.
Trump says either ‘great and meaningful’ deal or ‘no deal’ with Iran
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 calls idea of ‘just war’ put forward by US ‘outdated’
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-defence 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).
“Humanity possesses far more effective and capable tools for promoting human life and resolving conflicts, such as dialogue, diplomacy and forgiveness,” he wrote.
Fresh strikes test fragile Israel-Hezbollah truce
Israeli strikes killed two people in southern Lebanon during the weekend despite the ongoing ceasefire with Hezbollah.
At the same time, Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem rejected talks with Israel, opposed disarmament, and called for protests against the Lebanese government, drawing condemnation from the United States.
Watch the video for more.
China’s Xi meets Pakistan PM Sharif in Beijing: state media
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.
Iran says charging fees for ‘navigational services’ through Hormuz
Iran’s foreign ministry said on Monday 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”.
Key US-Iran negotiator Munir in China with PM Sharif
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”.
Iran would discuss nuclear issue with US if potential MoU implemented
Iran would discuss its nuclear programme and its highly enriched uranium with the US if Washington fulfils its commitments in a potential memorandum of understanding being negotiated, a senior Iranian diplomat told ISNA news agency on Monday.
These issues would be discussed in negotiations in exchange for the lifting of sanctions and release of Iranian foreign assets, Hossein Nooshabadi said, according to the agency.
As Iran diplomacy picks up, Rubio tours Taj Mahal
As diplomacy intensifies on ending the Iran war, top US diplomat Marco Rubio was spending Monday not in negotiations but at India’s world-famous monument to love, the Taj Mahal.
Rubio, on his first-ever visit to India, flew to Agra and spent 45 minutes at the Taj Mahal with his wife Jeanette, who usually shuns the spotlight. “It’s one of the wonders of the world,” Rubio said of the Taj Mahal. “I think it’s important to show respect to the culture of the countries that you visit.”
The excursion is unusual for Rubio, who in nearly a year and a half on the job has preferred short, business-like trips and rarely done events outside of government meetings.
Rubio said he was taking advantage of a one-day break in his schedule before a meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday of the Quad – Australia, India, Japan and the United States.
He will also visit the palace-filled city of Jaipur on Monday to tour the Amber Fort.
Iran says progress on many issues with US but agreement not imminent
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.
Qalibaf reelected as Iran’s parliament speaker, Fars says
Iran’s top negotiator in talks with the United States, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, has been reelected as the country’s parliamentary speaker, semi-official Fars news agency reported on Monday.
Israel military issues new evacuation warning to 10 Lebanon villages
Israel’s military on Monday warned residents of 10 villages, most of them in southern Lebanon, 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.”
Trump slows momentum towards an Iran agreement
US President Donald Trump has tempered expectations of a swift agreement with Iran despite signs of progress in negotiations. The talks reportedly focus on Iran pledging not to acquire nuclear weapons in exchange for possible sanctions relief and an easing of US economic pressure.