Here's the latest
• Trump on negotiations: US President Donald Trump said he won’t be rushed into a deal, warning that Iran’s efforts to outlast him won’t work because he doesn’t “care about the midterms.” Trump also said the US will “watch over” the Strait of Hormuz as part of an agreement, but “nobody’s going to control it.”
• Draft memo: According to Iranian state television, the memorandum of understanding being negotiated between Iran and the US would lift the US blockade of Iranian ports in return for the reopening of the strait to pre-war levels. The White House said the report is untrue.
• Internet access: Iran has imposed new restrictions on messaging and app stores, according to an internet watchdog, after yesterday partially easing a monthslong blackout.
• In Lebanon: Israel carried out strikes against what it described as over 150 infrastructure sites for Iran-backed Hezbollah across southern Lebanon.
Trump says US will “watch over” the Strait of Hormuz and warns Oman not to interfere
President Donald Trump said the Strait of Hormuz will be “open to everybody” and that the US will “watch over it,” adding that those terms are a part of negotiations with Iran.
Trump also warned Oman not to interfere. “Oman will behave just like everybody else or we’ll have to blow ‘em up,” the president said.
Asked if he would accept a short-term deal that would allow Iran and Oman to control the critical waterway, Trump said, “No, the strait’s going to be open to everybody.”
“It’s international waters. Nobody’s going to control it. We’re going to watch over it. We’ll watch over it, but nobody’s going to control it,” Trump said. “That’s part of the negotiation that we have.”
Remember: Iran has insisted that management of the strait has nothing to do with the US but would be coordinated with Oman, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday. That’s a condition other Iranian officials have repeated.
Trump suggests Iran deal could hinge on more nations joining Abraham Accords
President Donald Trump suggested Wednesday that he may refuse to make a deal with Iran until a host of Middle Eastern nations agree to join his Abraham Accords framework aimed at normalizing ties with Israel.
“That really would be a tremendous sign, and I think those countries owe it to us,” he said during a Cabinet meeting. “I’m not sure we should make the deal if they don’t sign, you want to know the truth.”
Trump earlier this week pressed several nations including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Pakistan to join the Abraham Accords, which were established during his first term, though there’s been little indication since that any of the countries are eager.
On Wednesday, he added he now wanted those discussions to be part of the broader negotiations toward a peace deal between the US and Iran, though when pressed on the matter, he declined to say that any agreement would be contingent on adding nations to the Abraham Accords.
“We can make a good deal right now, but maybe not a great deal,” Trump said. “And if it’s not a great deal, we’re not making it.”
Trump offers positions on uranium and financial relief as Iran talks continue
US President Donald Trump said he wouldn’t be content to see Russia or China take shipment of Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, and insisted there was no discussion of financial relief for the country before it fulfills its commitments.
The remarks offer harder-line positions on two key points that are central to the ongoing negotiations with Iran.
“No I wouldn’t be comfortable,” he said when asked about the prospect of Moscow or Beijing taking the near-bomb-grade uranium, which is currently believed to be buried deep underground.
Earlier this week, Trump said he would be open to the uranium being “destroyed in place or, at another acceptable location,” though didn’t specify any options.
Trump appeared unwilling today to ease any of the economic pressure on Iran that the country has been seeking as part of a deal.
Trump jokes Hegseth "loves war" during Cabinet meeting
While introducing members of his Cabinet during a meeting at the White House, President Donald Trump jested that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth “loves war.”
“We have great people, and the secretary of war, Pete Hegseth — central casting — he loves war … he’s a good man,” Trump said while introducing his Cabinet.
Hegseth has faced heightened scrutiny since the start of the war with Iran, with critics accusing him of taking an aggressive approach to both military strategy and public messaging.
The president’s 12th Cabinet meeting of his second term comes at a pivotal moment in negotiations with Iran and amid growing questions over the administration’s next steps in the conflict.
Trump says he won't be rushed into a deal with Iran because "I don't care about the midterms"
President Trump in a Cabinet meeting Wednesday vowed to strike a favorable deal to end the war with Iran, warning that the regime’s efforts to outlast him won’t work because “I don’t care about the midterms.”
President Donald Trump on Wednesday vowed to strike a favorable deal to end the war with Iran, warning that the regime’s efforts to outlast him won’t work because “I don’t care about the midterms.”
“They thought they were going to outwait me, you know? We’ll outwait him, he’s got the midterms,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting, dismissing concerns about the war’s political toll at home.
“I don’t care about the midterms. Look what happened last night, that was a prelude to the midterms. People understand it,” he said, alluding to his endorsed candidate winning a Texas GOP Senate primary runoff.
The president expressed confidence that the US would soon reach an agreement to end the conflict, though he cautioned that his administration is not yet satisfied with the terms — and is willing to resume fighting if it can’t secure its demands.
“We’re not satisfied with it, but we will be,” Trump said. “Either that, or we’ll have to just finish the job.”
He also touted the resumption of internet access in Iran as a sign the regime’s hardline stance was weakening, arguing that “their whole economic system is broken down.”
“They want to just make a deal,” he said. “I don’t think they have a choice.”
Trump says no sanctions relief for Iran if it hands over uranium
President Donald Trump said Iran would not get sanctions relief if it gives up its stock of highly enriched uranium.
“No, no, not at all. Not sanctions relief, no,” Trump told PBS News in a phone interview Wednesday when asked if the current framework would mean Iran giving up its highly enriched uranium in exchange for sanctions relief.
“They’re gonna give up their highly enriched uranium not for sanctions, relief. No, no, not at all,” he added.
White House pushes back on Iranian narrative of latest MOU draft
The White House on Wednesday pushed back on Iranian state media reports about a draft of the memorandum of understanding, calling it a “complete fabrication.”
“This report from Iranian controlled media is not true and the MOU they ‘released’ is a complete fabrication. Nobody should believe what Iranian state media is putting out. FACTS MATTER,” the White House’s Rapid Response account posted on X.
Iranian state media reported the MOU would call for US military forces to withdraw from the vicinity of Iran and lift the blockade of Iranian ports.
Some of the details are similar to how US officials have described the emerging deal. American officials have said President Donald Trump would be willing to lift the blockade as long as Iran allows commercial vessels to transit the Strait or Hormuz.
“As President Trump has said, negotiations are proceeding nicely and he has made his redlines clear. President Trump will only make a good deal for the American people, which must ensure that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon,” said Olivia Wales, a White House spokeswoman, in response to the Iran state TV report.
A look at Iran's nuclear program, a key sticking point in talks to end the war
Though US President Donald Trump has offered various justifications for starting the war with Iran, he has repeatedly cited its nuclear program, which has also been a key sticking point in negotiations to end the conflict.
Washington was in talks with Tehran about its nuclear program before the US and Israel struck Iran. Trump was determined to ensure Iran would “never have a nuclear weapon,” despite Iran’s insistence that it was not pursuing this.
A Congressional Research Service (CRS) report on Iran and nuclear weapons says that there were concerns about Iran’s uranium enrichment since the early 2000s.
In 2015, Tehran signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which capped uranium enrichment for 15 years and facilitated UN-led inspections to ensure adherence to the deal.
Trump abandoned the JCPOA in 2018, during his first term.
A US assessment of Iran’s nuclear weapons capability published in 2024 said that while “Iran (was) not building a nuclear weapon,” it had, however, “undertaken activities that better position it to produce one, if it so chooses.”
Just days after the US and Israel’s strikes on Iran, the head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, told CNN that Tehran was not days or weeks away from having a nuclear weapon.
There were “many elements” in Iran that were “of serious concern,” Grossi said, including the “unjustified accumulation of huge amounts of almost military-grade material” and a “lack of transparency in inspections.”
But despite this, “we never had information indicating that there was a structured systematic program to build or to construct a nuclear weapon,” he said.
Israel issues evacuation warning for Tyre in southern Lebanon
Israel issued an evacuation warning for the city of Tyre in southern Lebanon, which sits on the coast north of the zone occupied by Israeli forces.
The warning appears to be the largest ever issued for the city. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that it had carried out strikes against what it described as more than 150 Hezbollah infrastructure sites across the Beqaa Valley and southern Lebanon, including Tyre, over the previous 24 hours.
Earlier Wednesday, the IDF had issued an evacuation warning for the city of Nabatieh, which is north of the Litani River. It appears to be the first evacuation warning for the city itself, as Israel has expanded its operations in Lebanon north of the so-called Yellow Line, which is the northern boundary of the territory occupied by Israel.
What to know about the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively closed for months
Iranian state television reports the memorandum of understanding currently being negotiated between Iran and the US will call for an end to the US blockade of Iranian ports in return for an Iranian pledge to restore shipping through the Strait of Hormuz to pre-war levels.
The strait has remained a major flashpoint since the start of the conflict, after it was effectively closed by Tehran following airstrikes by the US and Israel on February 28, all but halting traffic through the world’s most important oil chokepoint.
A narrow waterway between Iran and Oman, the Strait of Hormuz is the main route for shipping crude from oil-rich countries such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to the rest of the world.
Iran controls the strait’s northern side. About 20 million barrels of oil, or about one-fifth of daily global production, used to flow through the strait every day, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
While some Middle East producers, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, have found alternative routes for their exports, around 10 million to 12 million barrels of crude remain choked off from global markets, according to analysts.
The strait also carries about one-fifth of global trade in liquefied natural gas, largely from Qatar, which has no alternative exit route.
US to end blockade and Iran to restore shipping in strait in draft memo, claims Iranian TV
The memorandum of understanding being negotiated between Iran and the United States will call for US military forces to withdraw from the vicinity of Iran and lift the blockade of Iranian ports, according to a report on Iranian state television.
“In return, Iran has committed to restoring the number of commercial ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz to pre-war levels within one month,” the report said.
The management and route of marine traffic through the strait will be controlled by Iran in cooperation with Oman, Iranian state broadcaster IRIB said. Military vessels are excluded from this arrangement, it added.
IRIB is regarded as led by hardline elements in the Iranian regime.
The report added that the framework of the deal is not yet finalized, and no step will be taken by Tehran without “tangible verification.” Negotiations were “currently moving back and forth, with both sides refining the wording of the draft text.”
If a final deal is reached within 60 days, the memorandum will be approved in the form of a binding United Nations Security Council resolution, it said.
There has been no comment from the US on the Iranian report.
The memorandum, seen as a roadmap for future negotiations on issues such as Iran’s nuclear program and international sanctions against Iran, is being negotiated with Pakistani mediation.
Israel says it killed senior Hamas commander in Gaza, days after killing predecessor
Israel says it killed the newly appointed commander of Hamas’ military wing, Mohammed Odeh, in a strike in northern Gaza on Monday, just days after his predecessor was slain in similar attack.
Odeh, who Israel considered a key planner of the October 7, 2023, massacre, had been monitored by Israeli intelligence for months and died in an operation targeting sites in Gaza City, which he “used to hideout,” Israel’s military and security agency said in a joint statement.
“His elimination constitutes a significant blow to the Hamas terrorist organization’s rehabilitation efforts,” said the statement.
Odeh was a member of the military council of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades and the head of intelligence for the Hamas military wing. He was considered by Israel to be the leader of the military wing of Hamas after former leader Izz al-Din al-Haddad was assassinated earlier this month.
“Hamas’ intelligence headquarters, under Odeh’s command, aided and advanced Hamas’ terrorist activities and operations, posing a threat to IDF troops and Israeli civilians,” said the Israeli statement.
Basem Naim, a member of Hamas’ political bureau, acknowledged Oudeh’s death on social media and described him as “heroic martyr.”
Odeh’s family mourned his death, referring to his nom de guerre Abu Amro, in a post on the family’s official Facebook page. Five members of the Odeh family were killed in the attack, the post said.
Israel has also assassinated other senior Hamas leaders, including Yahya Sinwar, his brother Mohammed Sinwar, and Mohammed Deif.
This post has been updated with additional developments.
Iran says "hostile" vessels remain blocked from traversing Strait of Hormuz
Iran says ships belonging to “hostile countries” remain blocked from traversing the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iranian state broadcaster IRIB, amid ongoing talks between Tehran and Washington.
The navy of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said today “vessels belonging to ‘hostile countries’ are prohibited from passing through the Strait of Hormuz,” IRIB reported, adding that Tehran will continue its “cooperation” with countries that comply with the “Iranian order.”
Despite optimism that a proposed US-Iran deal could increase the flow of commercial traffic through the strait, Tehran still appears to want to maintain a greater degree of control over the waterway than existed before the conflict.
IRIB said today that more ships are expected to cross the critical waterway, through which about 20% of the world’s oil supply typically passes, in the “coming hours,” after the IRGC claimed late Tuesday that 25 ships had passed through the strait over the previous 24 hours.
However, ship tracking services could not confirm that number, partly because vessels that transit the strait invariably turn off their AIS transponders which show their location.
Iran’s bid to restore internet faces renewed hardline sabotage
Iran’s decision to restore internet access has exposed fresh signs of internal division, driven by the country’s hardline factions — the same elements opposed to the current agreement with the United States.
When President Masoud Pezeshkian won a vote this week in the designated internet committee and ordered the restoration of access for millions of Iranians, a group of hardline politicians reportedly filed a legal complaint demanding the panel’s disbandment.
Some of these hardline politicians even sit on the Supreme Council of Cyberspace – the body that sets policy on what Iranians can see and access online – including Rasoul Jalili, who is pushing to ban international messaging apps and social media platforms, likening them to US military weapons.
The entrenched influence of hardline elements in Iran’s decision-making circles is obvious, including some who reportedly voted against reopening the internet, including: Peyman Jebelli, the head of the country’s state broadcaster IRIB, and even Mohammad-Amin Aghamiri, the secretary of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace — the highest-level body overseeing internet governance in Iran — according to Iranian outlet Faraz Daily.
Even as an administrative court ordered a temporary suspension of the internet restoration while it reviews the hardliners legal challenge, access was already returning to parts of Iran, NetBlocks reported.
Despite easing blackout, Iran has implemented new internet restrictions, watchdog says
After partially easing an internet blackout that lasted nearly 90 days yesterday, the Iranian regime has imposed new restrictions on messaging and app stores in the country, the internet monitoring group NetBlocks said a short while ago.
“Iran’s internet connectivity has now been in a state of restoration for 24 hours,” NetBlocks wrote in a post on X.
Some context: Iran began restricting internet access in late December, according to NetBlocks and other monitoring groups, following mass anti-government demonstrations initially driven by surging inflation, currency collapse and a deepening economic crisis.
After those demonstrations, the Iranian regime eased those restrictions slightly to allow a subset of people with security clearance to access the international web, experts said, but Iran again entered a near-total internet blackout after the US and Israel’s strikes on the country on February 28.
Earlier this week, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian ordered authorities to restore internet access to the country, Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency said, citing a source in the Ministry of Communications.
Israel issues more evacuation warnings for southern Lebanon as military hits Beqaa Valley
Israel issued more evacuation warnings for southern Lebanon on Wednesday as the Israeli military pounded the Beqaa Valley and more.
The new strikes come as CNN has reported that Israeli troops have begun operating beyond the so-called Yellow Line, the northern boundary of Israel’s self-declared security zone in southern Lebanon.
The Israeli military issued a new evacuation warning for the town of Nabatieh, which is outside the area occupied by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in southern Lebanon, after issuing four such warnings one day earlier across the area. On Tuesday, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said Israeli strikes killed 31 people, including at least four children. One airstrike in the city of Tyre killed at least 14 people, the ministry said.
On Wednesday, said it had launched more strikes against what it described as Hezbollah infrastructure sites in the Beqaa Valley and southern Lebanon. Over the previous 24 hours, the IDF said it had struck more than 150 Hezbollah infrastructure sites and militants across southern and central Lebanon.
The IDF also said that several explosive drones crossed from Lebanon into northern Israel, landing in open areas. The IDF also intercepted a number of what it described as “suspicious aerial targets” in southern Lebanon
Trump is set to gather his Cabinet for a meeting today
US President Donald Trump is expected to gather his Cabinet for a meeting today, convening top officials at a high-stakes moment for the US war with Iran.
The meeting was initially planned to take place at Camp David, but Trump said it was moved to the White House due to “possible bad weather.”
The rare offsite meeting is expected to be attended by all Cabinet members, according to a White House official.
Here’s a look at Trump’s public schedule today:
- At 8 a.m. ET, the president is expected to have “executive time.”
- At 11 a.m. ET, Trump will participate in the Cabinet meeting at the White House. It will be the first such meeting since March 26, and open to the press, so we will bring you updates as we get them.
- At both 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. ET, Trump is set to take part in two policy meetings. These are closed to the press, but we’ll report any pertinent developments.
As ceasefire enters 8th week, world awaits text of memorandum of understanding
Diplomats familiar with US-Iran negotiations still don’t know when — or even where — an expected memorandum of understanding (MOU), which seemed mostly agreed between the warring countries Saturday, will be signed.
That evening that US President Donald Trump called his Persian Gulf partners, language in the potential MOU was “locked in,” according to regional sources, with the expectation that — if quickly signed — the Strait of Hormuz could begin to open, and the clock start ticking on even tougher talks on nuclear enrichment and other issues.
Four days later, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that negotiations would require “a couple of days” to settle “disagreements” over a “word or sentence.”
But each day and word risks a repeat of other failed talks.
When US Vice President JD Vance was in Pakistan last month for talks, Iranian negotiators accused the US of moving the goal posts when they thought agreements had been struck.
When Trump meets with his Cabinet later today, the ceasefire underpinning the talks enters its eighth week and is currently being strained in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran suggested it would retaliate action following US defensive strikes Monday, and continued attacks between Israel and Hezbollah with escalating hostilities in Lebanon.
Global and regional economic pressure to put a pin in the war, sign the MOU and let diplomacy sort the tough stuff is growing. Trump’s path to framing that as a victory looks increasingly narrow.
A few words or sentence even on a “locked in” MOU is unlikely to give him everything he wants.
The US has been sanctioning Iran for almost 50 years
As we’ve reported, the finalization of a deal to end the US and Israel’s war with Iran is being held up by disputes over language on Iran’s nuclear program and the lifting of sanctions, according to US officials.
Iran has pressed for commitments on lifting sanctions and unfreezing assets, one source said, while the US has insisted that American financial relief won’t arrive until progress is made on the nuclear issue.
The US has been imposing sanctions on Iran since 1979, after the US embassy in Tehran was seized following the Iranian Revolution, according to the US State Department.
A Congressional Research Service (CRS) report on US sanctions on Iran says they were used to “deter, constrain, and encourage change in the adversarial behavior of the Iranian regime.”
The financial penalties are wide-ranging, banning nearly all US trade with Iran, blocking Iranian government assets in the country and prohibiting foreign assistance and arms sales, the report outlines.
In 2013, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said that the US could sell food, medicine, and medical devices to Iran.
According to the CRS report, the US is also allowed to provide telecommunications equipment to Iranians to help them circumvent the Iranian regime’s attempts at cutting off internet access.
On Saturday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said that “lifting sanctions will not be discussed in this short timeframe,” but emphasized that “Iran’s demand to lift all sanctions is explicitly in the text” of its proposals.
Iranian ambassador to be summoned over explosion on South Korean ship
South Korea will summon the Iranian ambassador to Seoul in protest over Tehran’s suspected involvement in an explosion which hit a South Korean-linked vessel in the Strait of Hormuz earlier this month, the country’s foreign ministry said today.
An explosion and fire occurred on a South Korean-linked vessel in the critical waterway earlier in May, according to the foreign ministry. US President Donald Trump said at the time that Iran had “taken some shots” at the vessel — a claim Tehran firmly rejected.
Subsequent investigations including analysis of projectile debris found the vessel was likely hit by Iran’s Noor series anti-ship missiles two times, South Korea’s first vice foreign minister Park Yoon-joo said. Only one of the missiles detonated, he added.
It is “very difficult” to assess whether it was an intentional attack or not, Park said.
The Panama-flagged ship was carrying 24 crew members, including six South Koreans, and docked by the strait near the United Arab Emirates before the explosion occurred, as we reported in early May.
Park said Wednesday that the missile’s body was the same light blue color as the Iranian Noor series anti-ship missile and some parts had engravings believed to be linked to an Iranian manufacturer.
There has been no immediate response from Iran to the latest investigation findings, but Iran’s embassy in South Korea previously rejected any involvement in the explosion.
