Qatar condemns killing of U.N. peacekeeping soldier in Lebanon
Qatar has joined Lebanon in condemning the killing of a U.N. peacekeeper in Lebanon.
In a statement Thursday, the Qatari foreign affairs ministry reiterated its “complete rejection of any aggression” targeting the U.N. forces, saying the incident was a serious violation of international humanitarian law.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, a peacekeeping mission, said Thursday that a Serbian peacekeeper was killed and two others were wounded when shelling hit their base in the country’s southeast the previous night.
They said they were investigating the incident.
U.S. military says it has redirected 127 vessels amid blockade
The U.S. military has redirected 127 commercial vessels since the start of its blockade on Iranian ports and vessels, Central Command said Thursday, an increase of two ships since yesterday.
It has disabled another six “to ensure compliance,” CENTCOM said on social media, and allowed 36 vessels supporting humanitarian aid to pass.
U.N. nuclear watchdog concerned by lack of access to Iran sites
The U.N. nuclear agency said in a confidential report seen by AFP on Thursday that a lack of access to verify nuclear material in Iran posed a “proliferation concern,” calling on the Islamic republic to “engage the agency constructively.”
“While the agency acknowledged that the military attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities and sites have created an unprecedented situation, it is critical for the agency to conduct verification activities in Iran without delay,” the International Atomic Energy Agency said in the report.
Lebanon prime minister says army to start deploying in “pilot zones” in south
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said on Thursday that the army would begin deploying in “pilot zones” in the country’s south, a day after Israel and Lebanon agreed to renew a ceasefire.
“The next step is practical and tangible: the deployment of the Lebanese army in pilot zones as a first phase,” Salam said, according to remarks read out by Information Minister Paul Morcos after a cabinet meeting, adding that “this does not prejudice our right to a full (Israeli) withdrawal, but brings us closer to it.”
According to a joint statement released after talks in Washington that Hezbollah has rejected, Israel and Lebanon agreed to create “pilot zones” in south Lebanon where the Lebanese army forces “will take exclusive control of the territory to the exclusion of all non-state actors.”
Lebanese president condemns killing of U.N. peacekeeping soldier
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has condemned the killing of a U.N. peacekeeper who died Thursday after shelling hit a U.N. position in the country’s south.
The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon — the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL — said Thursday that a peacekeeper was killed and two others were wounded when shelling hit their base in the country’s southeast, near the town of Marjayoun, the previous night.
The Serbian peacekeeper died from wounds sustained in a mortar strike, according to UNIFIL.
In a statement posted by the Lebanese presidency on X, Aoun “expressed his condemnation and denunciation” of the incident.
Aoun “considered that the killing of the international personnel in the south constitutes further evidence that the world has not left Lebanon alone, and that these forces are committed to their mission and to establishing security, stability, and peace in Lebanon and the region in general,” read the statement.
Strike on Kuwait airport was malfunctioning U.S. Patriot missile, says Iranian military
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps says a strike on an airport in Kuwait Wednesday that killed one person and wounded dozens more was actually a malfunctioning U.S. Patriot missile.
In a statement Thursday, Brig. Gen. Hossein Mohebbi, an IRGC spokesperson, said the powerful paramilitary group had not fired any projectiles at the airport, and the incident was the result of a malfunctioning U.S.-made Patriot air defense systems, which, after failing to intercept Iranian missiles, allegedly fell or misfired onto the airport.
The U.S. Central Command rejected that claim on Wednesday, saying it was “totally FALSE” and, “Iran struck the civilian airport with drones in a deliberate, calculated, and unjustified attack.”
Iran claimed its attack targeted U.S. military bases in retaliation for American attacks on an Iranian island and an Iranian vessel that Central Command described as “self-defense strikes.”
Kuwait’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation said Wednesday that the missiles and drones were intercepted, but debris from the Iranian weapons fell to the ground, causing the destruction.
Also on Thursday, a military source told Tasnim News, a semi-official news outlet close to the IRGC, that footage purporting to be of the strike hitting the airport was fabricated, saying that the distance between the targets they were aiming to strike and the airport was more than 24 miles.
Iranian soccer team still doesn’t have U.S. visas, but travel to Mexico confirmed
Iran’s national football team still doesn’t have visas to enter the United States ahead of the soccer World Cup, state media reported, but their entry permits for Mexico have been approved.
According to state news agency IRNA and the team’s media department, all administrative procedures for Mexico have been finalized, with visas granted to everyone.
The team is scheduled to depart its current base in Turkey for Mexico on Saturday.
Iran Football Federation President Mehdi Taj said Wednesday that U.S. visas remain the only unresolved issue for the team before the tournament, which starts on June 11.
“There is no obstacle anymore except the main issue related to the US visa,” Taj said in remarks published by Mehr News Wednesday. “I held talks on this issue today and I think the process is underway, but I cannot say at the moment what stage the situation is at.”
“The relevant [FIFA] authorities have told us to wait and will inform us of the result,” he added.
Iran is due to play two group games at SoFi stadium in Los Angeles, and one at Lumen Field in Seattle. Their first match-up is against New Zealand on June 16.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that players who have served in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, which the U.S. considers a terrorist organization, could face issues entering the country.
Iranian military commander says Israeli forces must withdraw to pre-war positions
Israeli troops in Lebanon must withdraw to their pre-war positions, an Iranian paramilitary commander said.
Brig. Gen. Esmail Qaani, who leads the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is the IRGC’s foreign operations wing, said in a statement Thursday that “eliminating Israel from the region … is the duty of all of us and the long-sought aspiration of Muslims.”
He added that he wanted to see “the retreat of the usurping regime,” to pre-war positions.
Israel and Lebanon agreed on a ceasefire deal Wednesday in Washington but its chances of stopping fighting between Israel and Hezbollah look vanishingly thin. Israel’s agreement is “contingent on a complete cessation of Hezbollah fire and the evacuation of all Hezbollah operatives” from areas south of the Litani River, and Hezbollah rejected these terms Thursday.
Head of Hezbollah rejects new Israel-Lebanon ceasefire agreement
The head of Hezbollah has rejected the terms of a new ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon, calling the deal “false” and an “illusion.”
Israel and Lebanon agreed on Wednesday to renew a fragile ceasefire between the two countries, saying in a joint statement the ceasefire was “contingent on a complete cessation of Hezbollah fire and the evacuation of all Hezbollah operatives” from areas south of the Litani River.
Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun said Thursday he was awaiting Hezbollah’s response, and if they acquiesced it could come into place within 24 hours.
But the Iranian-backed group appeared to categorically reject the terms of the deal Thursday.
In a written statement read on Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV channel, the group’s secretary-general, Sheikh Naim Qassam, said: “A security framework under a false ceasefire that requires Hezbollah to stop firing and withdraw from the south while aggression continues under military pressure is surrender and defeat.”
Referring to what he called “absurd, humiliating negotiations,” Qassam called the truce agreement “a roadmap for the destruction of part of the Lebanese people and the enslavement of the rest.”
“It is an illusion,” he added, “like the devil’s dream of entering paradise.”
“We are only concerned with a full cessation of aggression and a complete Israeli withdrawal,” Qassam said. “We will fight the invaders until we expel them and stop their aggression.”
The group has previously branded negotiations with Israel as “appeasement.”
Trump calls U.S. House vote to end Iran war “unpatriotic”
President Trump on Thursday called a vote in the House pushing to order the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the Iran war “unpatriotic.”
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Mr. Trump said the “meaningless vote” – which is largely symbolic – came “right in the middle of my final negotiations to end the War with the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
The House on Wednesday passed a measure that would force Mr. Trump to end the war with Iran without congressional authorization.
It was the first time the lower chamber has defied the White House on the conflict.
“Who would do such an unpatriotic thing,” the president wrote. “They know where the negotiations stand.”
Four Republicans helped get the measure approved. Mr. Trump said: “They should be ashamed of themselves.”
Pakistan denies leaking information about Iran to U.S.
Pakistan has denied reports that it passed information about Iran to the United States, according to Iran’s state news agency.
“These reports are completely false and unnecessary speculation, which we believe is part of negative efforts to influence the ongoing diplomatic process,” Pakistan’s foreign ministry spokesperson Tahir Andarabi said Thursday, according to IRNA.
In his weekly press briefing in Islamabad, Andarabi dismissed claims of intelligence sharing during the Pakistani foreign minister’s recent visit to Washington.
Andarabi also expressed Pakistan’s concern over the escalation of tensions in the Persian Gulf, and condemned the Iranian attacks against Kuwait on Wednesday, “because these hostilities narrow the space for dialogue and diplomacy.”
He added that Pakistan is still in contact with Iran and the U.S., saying “the [negotiations] process is continuing.”
Messages “still being exchanged” between Iran and U.S., says Iranian foreign minister
Messages are “still being exchanged” between Iran and the U.S., but not as part of formal negotiations, the Iranian foreign minister said Wednesday.
“There is currently no formal process of negotiations between Iran and the United States, but messages are still being exchanged,” Abbas Araghchi told the Hezbollah-funded Al-Mayadeen TV.
Iranian media had reported in recent days that all contact between the two sides had stopped.
In a lengthy interview, Araghchi said the U.S. and Israel had “miscalculated the Iranian people… and ultimately had to request negotiations.”
“Our military capability is even better than before the war,” he added, “therefore we have the ability to continue the war for as long as necessary.”
But, Araghchi said, “If rationality prevails, war will not resume. We are prepared to continue the war if necessary… but we are not seeking war.”
He also told Al-Mayadeen that “no tangible progress” had been made in talks between the two countries.
Lebanese president awaiting Hezbollah response on ceasefire, which he says could begin within 24 hours
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun is awaiting Hezbollah’s response to a potential ceasefire deal with Israel, which could begin within 24 hours if the militant group agrees to terms, according to an Al Jazeera journalist.
Aoun spoke to a small number of reporters at the Baabe Palace Thursday morning, according to Mazen Ibrahim, the Beirut bureau chief of the Qatari-state outlet. He told them that the Presidency is awaiting responses from all concerned parties before making an announcement on the agreement reached with Israel via the U.S. mediator.
Under the terms of the renewed ceasefire, Israel and Lebanon agreed Wednesday to create a number of “pilot” security zones inside Lebanon from which the militant group Hezbollah would be banned.
The ceasefire “is contingent on a complete cessation of Hezbollah fire and the evacuation of all Hezbollah operatives” from areas south of the Litani River.
Aoun that the implementation of the ceasefire could begin within 24 hours of final approval.
In practical terms, he is waiting to hear back from the two main Shia blocs – the Amal Movement and Hezbollah – before making an announcement about what lies ahead.
He referred to the talks in Washington on Wednesday, indicating that they were “very difficult” and that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had to personally intervene to get them resumed after they were briefly suspended by the head of the Lebanese delegation, Simon Karam.
Iran’s supreme leader says Israel, U.S. trying to promote “division” in Iran
Iran’s supreme leader accused the U.S. and Israel Thursday of trying to sow “division” among Iranians after suffering a “decisive blow” during the Middle East war.
In a written message, Mojtaba Khamenei said “the malicious enemy” was seeking to “plant the seeds of doubt, despair, fear, mistrust and division” among the public.
“In confronting these ill intentions, everyone must, through steadfastness, insight, preserving unity and cohesion … neutralize their sinister plot,” his message said.
Serbian U.N. peacekeeper killed in south Lebanon
The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon — the U.N. Interim Force, known as UNIFIL — said Thursday that a peacekeeper was killed and two others wounded when shelling hit their base in the country’s southeast, near the town of Marjayoun, the previous night.
“A UNIFIL peacekeeper died early this morning from critical injuries sustained when mortar shells struck his position,” a statement from the force said, adding that an investigation had been launched.
UNIFIL said it was launching an investigation “to ascertain the exact circumstances that led to this tragic incident.”
The mission said it had “detected an increasingly high number of trajectories and impacts in South Lebanon.”
“The violence must end,” it added.
The peacekeeper was named Thursday as Senior Sergeant Milovan Jovanovic, a Serbian national, by his country’s defense ministry.
He was “given emergency medical care at a hospital inside the base after being wounded and then transported by helicopter to the University Medical Center in Beirut, where he died,” a statement said.
Israeli defense minister says military would strike Beirut if Hezbollah attacks
Israel’s defense minister said Thursday that the ceasefire agreement with Lebanon grants the Israeli military the “freedom” to strike Beirut if Hezbollah attacks Israeli communities, adding that Israeli operations in southern Lebanon would continue.
“The IDF will, at this stage, continue its fire and ground operations, remain in the security zone in Lebanon up to the Yellow Line — including in the Beaufort area — and without the return of the population, while continuing to dismantle terrorist infrastructure on the ground,” Israel Katz said in a statement hailing the ceasefire renewal deal reached on Wednesday.
He said Israeli forces retained the “freedom of action, with American backing, to strike in Beirut in response to fire on Israeli communities and territory.”
Separately, Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir called the renewal a “serious mistake,” adding in a social media post that “the pipe dreams of advisers are dragging the prime minister (Benjamin Netanyahu) to wrong decisions.
Lebanon news agency reports Israeli strikes after truce renewal announcement
Lebanese official media reported Israeli strikes on the country’s south on Thursday morning, hours after an announcement that Israel and Lebanon had agreed to renew a ceasefire following talks in Washington.
The state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported Israeli drone strikes along roads at several south Lebanon locations, saying at least one resulted in a couple and their daughter being wounded in an attack on their car.
The Israeli Army’s Arabic-language spokesperson Avichai Edrei issued an evacuation warning to residents of southern Lebanon on X Thursday morning, saying that “the fighting is still ongoing against targets that use Hezbollah.”
Iran’s foreign minister says “no tangible progress” in peace talks with U.S.
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said Wednesday that “no tangible progress” has been made in negotiations to end the Middle East war.
Araghchi said lines of communication with the U.S. were still open, but warned that any Israeli attack on the Lebanese capital Beirut as part of its campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah would trigger a “full-scale resumption” of the conflict.
“Communications with the Americans have not been cut off, and messages have been exchanged regarding the need to stop aggression against Beirut, but no tangible progress has been made in the negotiation process,” Iran’s Tasnim news agency quoted Araghchi as telling Lebanon’s Al Mayadeen TV.
“Any attack on Beirut will have grave consequences and will lead to a full-scale resumption of the war,” he said. “Our armed forces are ready to strike Israel if it attacks Beirut.”
Israel and Lebanon agree to renew ceasefire, create security zones that will exclude Hezbollah
Israel and Lebanon agreed Wednesday to renew their fragile ceasefire and create a number of “pilot” security zones inside Lebanon from which the militant group Hezbollah would be banned.
In a joint statement released by the U.S., Lebanon and Israel after a fourth round of U.S.-mediated talks at the State Department in Washington, the two sides said the ceasefire “is contingent on a complete cessation of Hezbollah fire and the evacuation of all Hezbollah operatives” from areas south of the Litani River.
It was not immediately clear how the security zones would be established, but the agreement calls for the Lebanese army to take full control of those areas.
“These steps will enable progress towards a comprehensive peace and security agreement,” the statement said. “All countries reaffirmed that the future of the relationship between Israel and Lebanon must be decided by the two sovereign governments. They rejected any attempt, by any state or non-state actor, to hold Lebanon’s future hostage.”
The latter is a reference to Iran, which supports Hezbollah and has insisted that Israeli attacks on Lebanon be halted as part of a possible agreement with the U.S. to end the conflict with Iran. Hezbollah is not part of the Israel-Lebanon talks.
House votes to rein in Trump on Iran as war loses GOP support
The House on Wednesday passed a measure that would force President Trump to end the war with Iran without congressional authorization, marking the first time the lower chamber has defied the White House on the conflict.
The House voted 215 to 208 to narrowly approve the war powers resolution with the help of four Republicans. Democratic Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, who has voted against the three previous failed attempts, also dropped his opposition and voted for the measure, giving his party unanimity on the issue.
The vote was supposed to take place before lawmakers left for the Memorial Day recess, but House GOP leaders abruptly pulled the vote when it became clear they did not have the numbers to block it. Several Republicans were absent and others were expected to support it.
The Senate advanced a similar measure in May to rein in Mr. Trump on Iran after four Republicans joined all but one Democrat to push it forward. It’s unclear when they plan to vote on the House version.
Trump defines a Middle East ceasefire as “shooting in a more moderate manner”
In the Oval Office Wednesday afternoon, a reporter asked President Trump how he defines a ceasefire, given continued conflict with Iran.
“Pretty much the way it is,” he said. “That’s a different part of the world. You know, I’d say in that part of the world, a ceasefire is when you’re shooting in a more moderate manner.”
Asked if ceasefire is still on, Trump says, “there’s a reason for everything”
President Trump brought reporters into the Oval Office Wednesday afternoon and took some questions. One reporter asked if, given Iran’s latest attack on Kuwait, the ceasefire with Iran is still ongoing.
“Well, you know, there’s a reason for everything,” Mr. Trump said. “And we hit them pretty hard the night before and actually last night … We’ve been hitting them pretty hard.”
The president said the U.S. “nipped it in the bud” pretty quickly.
