Live updates: Trump raises hopes for war to wind down as Iran denies negotiations
President Donald Trump said Monday the U.S. was talking with a “respected” Iranian leader and claimed the Islamic Republic was eager for a deal to end the war. (AP Production: Marissa Duhaney)
Major developments we’re following:
- U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters that Iran wants “to make a deal” to end the war, claiming U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner had held talks Sunday with an Iranian leader. He did not say who that was, but said the U.S. has not talked to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei. Iran denied that such talks were taking place.
- Lebanon has withdrawn the accreditation of Iran’s ambassador, ordering him to leave by Sunday and declaring him persona non grata. The removal marks a culmination in the deterioration of Lebanon’s relations with Iran since the last Israel-Hezbollah war in 2024. Since then, Iranian flights have been banned from landing in Lebanon, and some top Lebanese government officials have been critical of Tehran’s role in the country.
- The death toll from the war has risen to more than 1,500 people in Iran, over 1,000 people in Lebanon, 15 in Israel and 13 U.S. military members, as well as a number of civilians on land and sea in the Gulf region. Millions of people in Lebanon and Iran have been displaced, and U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon report “intense gunfire and explosions” as Israeli ground forces fight Hezbollah militants.
Iran will fight ‘until complete victory’
The spokesman of Iran’s top military command says that its armed forces will fight “until complete victory.”
The comments by Maj. Gen. Ali Abdollahi Aliabadi of the Khatam-al Anbiya Central Headquarters appeared related to U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement that there were negotiations ongoing between Tehran and Washington.
Iran has denied any talks are taking place, though its foreign minister has been talking to counterparts around the region.
Iranian state television quoted Aliabadi as saying: “Iran’s powerful armed forces are proud, victorious and steadfast in defending Iran’s integrity, and this path will continue until complete victory.”
The general didn’t say what “complete victory” would look like, but it appeared likely that Iran’s military was trying to warn against offering concessions in any possible negotiations with the United States.
JUST IN: Iranian spokesman for its top military command says armed forces will fight ‘until complete victory’
Blasts heard in Tehran
An Associated Press journalist has heard a huge blast in the northern part of Iran’s capital, Tehran, that shook his home.
Another blast struck near central Tehran, another AP journalist says.
It wasn’t immediately clear what was being targeted, but Israel had said that it was embarking on airstrikes targeting locations in Iran.
Egypt and Jordan condemn Israeli practices in the West Bank
Egypt and Jordan say the Iran war shouldn’t distract the international community from the Israeli practices in the occupied West Bank.
Israel’s “illegitimate measures” in the West Bank “undermine all chances to achieve just peace,” the Egyptian and Jordanian foreign ministers said.
The ministers also condemned settler attacks in the West Bank as a “flagrant violation of international law.”
Lebanon orders Iran’s ambassador to leave
The Foreign Ministry says Tehran’s diplomatic representative in Lebanon has to leave by Sunday, declaring him persona non grata.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Denise Rahme told The Associated Press that the Iranian Embassy will still have a charge d’affaires to head its diplomatic mission.
The removal of the ambassador marks a culmination in the deterioration of Lebanon’s relations with Iran since the last Israel-Hezbollah war in 2024.
Iran names new Supreme National Security Council secretary
Iran has named a former Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander as the new secretary of the country’s Supreme National Security Council, replacing Ali Larijani, who was killed in an airstrike.
Iranian state television identified the new secretary as Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr.
Zolghadr reached the rank of brigadier general in the Guard. He had been serving as the secretary of Iran’s Expediency Council.
JUST IN: Iran names Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr as new secretary of Supreme National Security Council, replacing the late Ali Larijani
JUST IN: Lebanon withdraws accreditation of Iran’s ambassador and orders him to leave country
United Arab Emirates reports more missile and drone attacks
The Emirati Defense Ministry says air defense systems have responded to five ballistic missiles and 17 drones fired at the Gulf nation.
That has brought the number of projectiles fired at the UAE since the start of the war to 372 missiles and 1,806 drones.
Israel reports more missiles launched from Iran
The Israeli military says it has detected a new wave of missiles launched from Iran toward Israel.
Israel gives update on Iran strikes
Israel’s military says it has finished an extensive wave of strikes on Iranian “production sites,” without immediately providing more information.
Katz threatens Gaza-like destruction in southern Lebanon
Defense Minister Israel Katz says that the Israeli military will destroy homes in southern Lebanon, just as it did in Gaza, in what he says is a stepped-up effort to rid the area of Hezbollah militants.
Katz says that Israel will implement “the Rafah and Beit Hanoun models,” referring to two Gaza border towns that Israel flattened in its offensive in the Palestinian territory.
Katz says that the military is going beyond destroying Hezbollah infrastructure, and that it was also destroying houses in Lebanese villages near the border that he says “serve as terrorist outposts for all intents and purposes.”
6 killed in missile attack on Kurdish base in Iraq
The attack on a Peshmerga base in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil also wounded 30 others.
A statement from the Peshmerga forces blamed Iran for the strike and another attack, which caused no casualties.
Israeli defense officials discuss southern Lebanon
Defense Minister Israel Katz says Israel’s military will control a “security zone” in southern Lebanon up to the Litani River.
Katz says the hundreds of thousands of Lebanese people who have evacuated north of the river — fleeing Israeli airstrikes — wouldn’t be able to return home until “security is guaranteed” for residents of Israel’s north.
He made the comments in a meeting with top Israeli defense officials, according to a statement released by his office.
Oman’s top diplomat conducts flurry of diplomacy
Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi called 18 counterparts from across the globe in recent days, according to Oman’s Foreign Ministry.
They included the foreign ministers of Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iraq and France.
The ministry says the calls aimed to “support efforts to contain the ongoing war in the region, and return to diplomacy to address outstanding issues.”
Death toll in strike near Beirut increases
Lebanon’s Health Ministry says that another person died after the airstrike on the town of Bchamoun southeast of Beirut, raising the death toll to three.
The ministry says the dead include a 3-year-old girl.
Iran-backed militiamen killed in Iraq airstrike
Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces, a coalition of militias backed by Iran, says 15 militiamen were killed in an airstrike in western Iraq.
The dead included Saad Dawai al-Baiji, who commands PMF operations in the province of Anbar, the PMF said in a statement.
The PMF blamed the United States for the strike, which hit the coalition’s command headquarters in Anbar.
The PMF was formed to fight the Islamic State group and is formally under the control of the Iraqi army, but in practice still operates with significant autonomy.
Police say Tel Aviv explosion caused by Iranian warhead
Israeli Police Superintendent Fadida Yaniv confirmed damage to central Tel Aviv on Tuesday was caused by an Iranian warhead with about 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of explosives.
Yaniv, who serves with the police unit investigating explosions, told the Associated Press at the scene that the missile damaged homes and cars on the residential street but there were no serious injuries reported.
Asian markets rebound
Asian markets mostly rebounded Tuesday, echoing cautious relief that swept through Wall Street after U.S. President Donald Trump said the U.S. has talked with Iran about ending the war.
U.S. crude and brent crude rose, reversing course after the easing overnight on Wall Street.
Global markets have been on a roller coaster over worries about the war in Iran.
Nations in Asia have been impacted by a lack of access to energy shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.
Rescue forces working in Tel Aviv
An Israeli police superintendent confirmed that the damage to central Tel Aviv was caused by an Iranian warhead with about 100 kilograms (220.5 pounds) of explosives which directly impacted a residential street. First responders combed through rubble after the missile struck. (AP video by Ohad Zwigenberg and Sam Mednick)
Israel’s military said search and rescue forces were headed to several sites where missile impacts were reported in Tel Aviv.
Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service posted images to X of a damaged site in central Israel where rescue workers worked around charred cars.
First responders combed through rubble after a missile struck a street in central Tel Aviv.
An Associated Press reporter saw a crater next to a destroyed building façade and shards where glass lined the ground as rescue workers searched for wounded people.
Yaffa Folger, who was a few hundred meters from the blast, said her building shook and the windows of several other buildings were blown out.
Egypt minister and US envoy discuss potential Iran negotiations
Egypt Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty discussed “potential negotiations” between the U.S. and Iran in a phone call Monday with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, the Egyptian foreign ministry said Tuesday.
The ministry said the call came during concerted efforts to revive the “diplomatic path .. as the sole way to avert a comprehensive chaos in the region.”
Abdelatty also spoke with the foreign ministers of Turkey, Pakistan, Oman, Saudi Arabia, UAE, France and Cyprus, the ministry said.
Latest reports of live fire
- Israel’s military warned of a seventh missile launch Tuesday from Iran.
- Firefighters in Bahrain extinguished a fire in a facility that was caused by an Iranian attack, authorities said without elaborating.
After a recent warning about an incoming Iranian missile barrage, an explosion could be heard and smoke could be seen in central Tel Aviv.
Israel’s military said search and rescue forces were headed for several sites where impacts had been reported.
Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service posted images to X of a damaged site in central Israel where rescue workers thronged around cars that had been charred to ashes.
Israel’s police said Tel Aviv officers were headed to multiple sites where impacts were reported.
Yoel Moshe of Magen David Adom rescue service said four people had been lightly wounded but did not require treatment, adding that teams were searching for more injured.
- Israel issued another missile warning to the public for Iranian fire, the sixth warning since midnight on Tuesday.
Iran foreign minister holds talks
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi since Monday has been discussing the conflict with some of his counterparts.
Araghchi is speaking with officials from Azerbaijan, Egypt, Oman, Pakistan, Russia, South Korea, Turkey and Turkmenistan, his office confirmed.
Iran must ‘think wisely’ over Trump’s comments about talks
A member of Iran’s Parliament has warned that his nation must “think wisely” about U.S. President Donald Trump saying talks were ongoing between Tehran and Washington.
The semiofficial Fars news agency quoted Esmail Kowsari, a member of Parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee, as making the comment.
“Trump, Netanyahu and the like are inherently liars and their nature is to create division,” he said. “We must think wisely. Their nature is to sow discord so that they can make people distrust officials and believe that such actions have taken place, whereas no such action has occurred.”
Israel issues sixth missile warning Tuesday
Israel issued another missile warning to the public for Iranian fire, the sixth warning since midnight on Tuesday.
Israeli strikes near Beirut kill 2, hit targets in southern Lebanon
An Israeli strike early Tuesday on a residential apartment in Bchamoun, around 10 kilometers (6 miles) southeast of Beirut, killed at least two people, according to an initial toll from the Lebanese Health Ministry.
The strike wounded five others, the ministry added.
The strike came without warning and hit an area outside Beirut’s southern suburbs, where the Israeli military had previously issued evacuation notices.
Footage circulating online showed at least one apartment in a building engulfed in flames.
Also early Tuesday, Israeli strikes hit several areas in southern Lebanon, including a gas station belonging to the Amana company in Rashidieh, near the port city of Tyre, sending a large plume of fire into the air.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Israel has repeatedly struck Amana fuel stations since the conflict with Hezbollah reignited on March 2, accusing them of being part of the group’s “economic infrastructure” that can support its military activities.
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