What we're covering
• Troops in the Middle East: President Donald Trump told NBC he doesn’t plan to withdraw US forces until “we have a completion” of the war with Iran. In the interview, which was recorded Friday, Trump also described the new Iranian supreme leader as “more rational” than his predecessor.
• Talks at a stalemate: Iran’s main problem in negotiating with the US is Washington’s changing and “contradictory” positions, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson told CNN in Tehran. Exchanges of fire this weekend have increased the strain on a fragile ceasefire, even as talks continue.
• Latest strikes: The US military said it shot down two Iranian drones near the Strait of Hormuz, a day after the US struck Iranian radar sites and Tehran launched missiles and drones at Gulf neighbors.
• 100 days of war: From catastrophic strikes to wars of words, read reflections from CNN reporters on the conflict’s inflection points so far.
Trump “open” to sending US forces to retrieve Iran's nuclear stockpile but hopes for agreement to do so
President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he is “open” to sending US forces to retrieve Iran’s nuclear stockpile but hopes it would be done as part of an agreement with Iran.
The stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which Trump called “nuclear dust,” is at the center of the US war with Iran and that if a deal is reached, the two countries will destroy the stockpile together.
“If we make a deal now [that] we’re friendly, we’ll all go together. It’ll be our equipment. We’ll take it out and destroy it, whether it’s onsite or whether we take it offsite,” Trump said in a prerecorded interview airing Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Trump added that if a deal is not reached, he would take out Iran “militarily very harshly” before entering the country with US forces.
The president said that he will wait until there is “safety either way” when retrieving the stockpile.
“We will go with them, or without them. But we won’t have people shooting at us, okay?” he said.
Trump: "I didn't guarantee no war"
President Donald Trump pushed back on the assertion he broke his campaign promise of keeping the United States out of any new military conflicts.
“Well, well. First of all, I didn’t guarantee no war,” he said in a pre-taped interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” out Sunday, adding, “Why would I have built the strongest military in the world?”
Trump defended his military efforts in Venezuela and Iran, saying they are not as lengthy as the US engagements in Iraq and Vietnam.
“We’re there for a few months,” Trump said. “And the threat is largely over. Soon, it will be over. But you cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon, or they will blow you up.”
Hegseth insists ceasefire holding strong despite back-and-forths
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth downplayed concerns on the status of the US-Iran ceasefire, which was meant to act as a buffer while both sides negotiate a permanent peace deal.
“Of course it’s a ceasefire,” Hegseth told reporters prior to departing from France, where he had been participating in a World War II memorial ceremony.
Hegseth dismissed questions about recent military back-and-forths between the US military and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, saying US President Donald Trump was “very clear things can happen intermittently” during a ceasefire, but that Trump remains focused on negotiating a deal.
“We’re negotiating actively,” Hegseth said. “Things are happening, shipping is moving through. Iran shouldn’t be shooting at it. And when they do, we take care of that as you would expect. But ultimately, we think a deal, a great deal, is likely coming soon.”
A look back at 100 days of the Iran war
From the start, CNN journalists have been tracking the defining moments of the US-Israeli war with Iran — the military escalations, devastating human toll, market shocks and political reckonings that altered the course of the conflict, moment by moment.
These are some of the war’s early defining moments, as told by our reporters:
- US and Israel launch strikes on Iran, February 28: “I started to get a strong sense of what was coming by late afternoon on February 27, as multiple sources described an array of unusual activity across the US government that all pointed to a looming military operation.” – Zachary Cohen, senior reporter
- First retaliatory strikes hit Israel, February 28: “Like millions across Israel, I awoke to the sound of sirens. It was about 8:15 a.m. local time and Israel’s Home Front Command was blasting a warning to residents, urging them to move near bomb shelters and prepare for incoming Iranian missile fire.” – Jeremy Diamond, Jerusalem correspondent
- First US casualties, March 1: “I woke up to news from a source that US troops had been struck and several were believed to have been killed. Learning that kind of news never gets easier.” – Haley Britzky, national security reporter
- On the ground in Tehran, March 8: “In the middle of night, we suddenly heard very loud explosions that shook our hotel. As we got to the roof, we saw massive plumes of black smoke to the east, south and west of the city.” – Fred Pleitgen, senior international correspondent
- Israel expands strikes in Lebanon, March 23: “When Hezbollah openly announced it had fired projectiles into Israel to avenge the death of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, it seemed a wildly erratic, almost suicidal move.” – Nick Paton Walsh, chief international security correspondent
Read more reflections from CNN reporters as the war reaches its 100th day.
Iran "trying to string us along" in negotiations, GOP senator says
Republican US Sen. James Lankford cast blame on Iran for the sluggish pace of negotiations on a deal to end the war, saying in an interview today that Tehran is dragging out the talks.
More talks were held this weekend, with Pakistan’s interior minister acting as a mediator and speaking to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
Lankford during the interview characterized the US blockade of Iranian ports near the Strait of Hormuz as a form of pressure meant to catalyze a deal.
“Iran just reopened its internet last week. It’s hard to imagine that they had almost three months with no internet anywhere in the country, that shut down every small business,” Lankford said. “Every one of their businesses and individuals couldn’t operate, banks couldn’t operate, and so Iran is under tremendous high strain right now.”
Trump says he and Netanyahu on same page despite disagreements
US President Donald Trump said he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are on the same page as the conflict in Iran stretches into its 100th day, despite some disagreements between the leaders over Israel’s military offensive in Lebanon.
“We get along very well,” Trump said on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” in a prerecorded interview that aired Sunday morning.
“We’ve been great comrades. We did a very, very big number on a certain country that was nothing but trouble for 47 years. I disagree with him on a couple of things,” Trump said.
When pressed on if he disagrees with Israel’s continued bombing of Lebanon, Trump said he would like to see a more “surgical attack on Hezbollah.”
“We can help them with that, or we can recommend Syria,” he said, adding praise for the new Syrian government.
Some background: Israeli attacks have killed at least 3,593 people and wounded 10,990 others across Lebanon since March 2, Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health said in an update Saturday.
Fighting between the Israeli military and Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group, has intensified in southern Lebanon despite a US-mediated ceasefire between the Israeli and Lebanese governments. Hezbollah was not party to the negotiations and has rejected the truce.
Trump had said last week he was “perturbed” with Netanyahu over Israel’s plans for military operations in Lebanon as the US was working toward a peace agreement with Iran.
No plans to withdraw US troops involved in Iran war, Trump says
President Donald Trump said he is not planning to withdraw the roughly 50,000 troops involved in the Iran war until “we have a completion” in the country.
“I don’t consider (the troops) in danger,” Trump told “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker during a wide-ranging interview taped on Friday and released Sunday. “We have the best defense anyone’s ever seen. We have the best offense anyone’s ever seen. So I don’t consider it danger.”
“I would say it would be foolhardy to do that because maybe we may use them,” Trump added.
During the interview, Trump compared the number of casualties in the Iran operation to the US war in Vietnam, during which the US lost more than 58,000 troops.
“We’ve lost 13 people here and that’s a lot. Thirteen people, too many,” Trump said. “But, if you look at Vietnam, where hundreds of thousands of people were killed, if you look at any one of the last seven or eight wars where many, many people were killed, we lost 13. And again, 13 is too many. I don’t want to lose any. But 13 is less than anybody’s ever even envisioned.”
“I think we’re doing a great job,” he added.
13 US service members have been killed in connection with the conflict. Six service members were killed on March 1 after an Iranian strike in Kuwait’s Shuaiba port. A service member died March 8 following an attack by Iran on Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia and six service members died March 12 when a US Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker refueling aircraft crashed on in western Iraq.
Trump says new Iranian supreme leader is "more rational"
US President Donald Trump said he thinks Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is “more rational” than his predecessor, adding in an interview with NBC that Khamenei is “pretty badly injured.”
“Younger, I think, more rational. Injured — he’s pretty badly injured. So, there’s a certain bravery there,” Trump said in the interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” which was recorded Friday and released this morning.
The new leader — who succeeded his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — has not been seen in public since he suffered injuries from an Israeli attack that killed his father on the first day of the war.
Trump would not disclose what he knew about the location of Mojtaba Khamenei.
Iran's football federation head lambasts US obstruction of players' travel for World Cup
The president of Iran’s football federation, Mehdi Taj, said Sunday the Iranian soccer team has been granted permission to enter the United States for the World Cup, but “only one day before the match,” according to semi-official Iranian media.
Iran is due to face New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15, Belgium in Los Angeles on June 21, and Egypt in Seattle on June 26, according to FIFA, the governing body that organizes the World Cup.
The team touched down in Mexico on Sunday, Iranian Fars news agency reported. Last month, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said that Iran’s team would stay in Mexico between the matches.
A spokesperson for the football federation said Saturday that the team will travel to the US using a multiple-entry visa, entering one day before the first match and two days before each of the next two matches, semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.
A US administration official told CNN the visas necessary for Iran to compete in the World Cup, including for athletes and necessary support staff, have been issued. “We will not allow the Iranian team to abuse this system to sneak terrorists into the United States under false pretenses,” the official said.
Taj said it was “truly strange” that Washington was interfering in the administration of the sporting event, adding the Iranian football federation would complain to FIFA. CNN has reached out to governing body for comment.
The federation president also speculated that the US might try to interfere with the team’s entry to the country while appearing to link Washington’s decision-making to the Iran war.
Meanwhile, the Iranian Embassy in Ankara called the US’ “hostility” toward the Iranian team “the worst possible form of political interference in sport.”
Israel strikes Beirut for first time since new ceasefire after intercepting Hezbollah fire
The Israeli military struck Beirut on Sunday for the first time since the latest ceasefire went into effect after Hezbollah fire was intercepted over northern Israel.
The Israel Defense Forces said it struck what it described as Hezbollah infrastructure in the Dahiyeh neighborhood. Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) said the attack targeted two apartment buildings.
The strike killed at least two people and wounded 11 others, NNA said, according to initial reports.
Images from the scene showed a huge pall of smoke rising from the neighborhood and at least one apartment building extensively damaged.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement that the strike on Beirut was is in response to Hezbollah fire into Israeli territory. Earlier Sunday, the IDF said that two rockets were launched from Lebanon into Israeli territory and were intercepted.
Israel briefed the US on the planned strike on Beirut ahead of time, an Israeli source told CNN.
At the weekly cabinet meeting Sunday, Netanyahu said: “We will not allow firing on our territory or on our communities, and we will act accordingly”
This is the third time Israel has attacked Beirut since the previous ceasefire with Lebanon went into effect in mid-April. Under the ceasefire, the US had largely barred Israel from striking Beirut and Israel only struck Beirut twice, targeting senior Hezbollah commanders.
Last week, under US mediation, Israel and Lebanon announced they agreed to a renewed ceasefire under which Israel committed not to target Beirut if Hezbollah did not target Israeli civilians. Hezbollah rejected the new agreement.
This post has been updated with the reported death toll from the strike.
Iran could issue 30-day deadline on Strait of Hormuz, member of negotiating team says
Iran could issue a 30-day deadline for reopening the Strait of Hormuz under Iranian management in light of US actions, a member of Iran’s negotiating team said in a recent interview with the country’s semi-official Fars news agency.
“Under this proposal, Tehran should announce that the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz under Iranian administration will only be possible 30 days after all threats from the United States and its allies have been removed,” Majid Shakeri, a member of Iran’s negotiating team during recent Islamabad talks, said.
The US placed a naval blockade on the strait in April, after Iran effectively shuttered the waterway following the start of US-Israeli strikes on February 28.
Meanwhile, Shina Ansari, head of Iran’s Department of Environment, has said that a proposal to charge maritime and environmental service fees in the Strait of Hormuz is under review.
“The discussion is not merely about collecting fees; rather, it concerns the provision of services, which could include navigational guidance, search-and-rescue operations, ensuring the security of vessels, and protecting the marine environment,” Ansari said according to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency.
The proposed fees will partially relate to environmental damage caused by shipping traffic and the risks posed to marine ecosystems, she said.
Amid stalled US-Iran peace talks, commercial traffic through the key waterway remains significantly reduced. The strait’s future remains in question as negotiations are still deadlocked, however Iranian officials have reiterated Tehran’s sovereignty over the strait, alongside Oman. Ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz with Iranian permission are now being charged an average fee of between $1.5 and $2 million, according to a senior member of Iran’s parliament.
The US has insisted the strait must be “completely open” to commercial shipping after the war, with zero tolls or conditions.
Israel issues evacuation warning for Lebanon's ancient city of Tyre
Israel issued a renewed evacuation warning for the ancient Lebanese city of Tyre today, as clashes between Israeli forces and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah escalate despite a US-brokered ceasefire between the governments of Israel and Lebanon.
The latest warning extends to residents in neighborhoods and camps surrounding the city, which sits on the coast north of the zone occupied by Israeli forces. Israel said the evacuation of residents was necessary due to Hezbollah’s violation of the ceasefire deal.
Hezbollah was not party to the ceasefire agreement and has rejected it so long as the Israeli military remains in Lebanon.
In a rare public criticism of Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem after he rejected the agreement, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Friday that the militant leader doesn’t represent the Lebanese people. “The Lebanese people are not your people,” he said in an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour. “They are Lebanese people. They are not Naim Qassem’s people.”
Earlier on Sunday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it intercepted two projectiles that crossed from Lebanon into northern Israeli territory.
On Saturday, the Lebanese army said an Israeli strike on a military vehicle in the country’s south killed several Lebanese soldiers, including a high-ranking officer, prompting criticism from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
In response, the IDF said it had struck the vehicle after it was spotted “moving suspiciously.” The area had been evacuated, the IDF said, amid “concrete indications” that Hezbollah was operating there.
Two Israeli soldiers were also killed in separate incidents in southern Lebanon this weekend, according to the Israeli military.
CNN’s Laura Sharman, Mostafa Salem and Charbel Mallo contributed reporting.
Ships using Hormuz charged up to $2 million, Iranian official says
Ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz with Iranian permission are being charged an average fee of between $1.5 and $2 million, according to a senior member of Iran’s parliament.
The fee was disclosed by Mohsen Zangeneh, a member of the parliament’s Budget and Planning Commission, in an interview with the semi-official Fars news agency.
Iran has insisted that it has the right to supervise traffic passing through the strait, contrary to international maritime law, along with Oman, which borders the other side of the strait.
Iran has set up a management body called the Persian Gulf Strait Authority which said last week that since it began operations in early May, more than 300 non-Iranian vessels had submitted information to obtain safe passage permits through the Strait, most of them oil tankers.
“Revenues collected under the scheme are deposited into the state treasury,” Fars reported Sunday, but some were made in goods and services rather than cash, it said.
Iranian officials have insisted that the fees are not tolls.
Iran was providing “navigation services, in addition to measures necessary for protecting the environment of the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf, and the Gulf of Oman. These require the collection of certain costs,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said last month.
US President Donald Trump has rejected Iranian management of the strategic waterway, insisting of a return to the freedom of navigation that existed before the conflict began.
Volatility in the Middle East tests ceasefire agreements. Here's the latest
A recent exchange of fire between Iran and the US is testing a truce agreement between the countries, as a top Iranian official said Washington’s “changing positions” is the main issue in current negotiations.
And in Lebanon, clashes between Israeli forces and the Hezbollah militant group have intensified despite the renewal of a US-brokered ceasefire between the governments of Israel and Lebanon.
Here are the headlines from the region:
View from Tehran: Iran’s main problem in negotiating with the US is Washington’s changing and contradictory positions, according to Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei. Speaking with CNN in Tehran on Sunday, Baghaei said the exchange of messages continued through Pakistani mediators.
Strait of Hormuz: The US military downed two more Iranian drones on Saturday, according to US Central Command, adding that they had been threatening international traffic in the crucial waterway. This came a day after US forces shot down four other Iranian attack drones that were launched toward the strait.
Lebanon: The Israeli and Lebanese armies both reported personnel deaths in southern Lebanon. Two Israeli soldiers were killed in separate incidents, according to their military. The Lebanese army said several of its soldiers, including a high-ranking officer, were killed in an Israeli strike. At least 3,593 people have been killed and 10,990 wounded in Lebanon since March 2, the health ministry said on Saturday.
Peace efforts: Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Tehran on Sunday for a new round of negotiations on behalf of the US. The talks are deadlocked over $24 billion in frozen Iranian assets, a top official previously told CNN.
Gulf states: The US is planning to allow Iranian assets to be used to support repairs for war damage in Gulf nations, according to a source familiar with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s thinking. Kuwait and Bahrain recently intercepted Tehran’s attacks after US forces struck radar surveillance sites in Iran’s coastal areas.
CNN’s Aleena Fayaz, Lauren Chadwick, Kevin Liptak, Oren Liebermann, Dalia Abdelwahab, Billy Stockwell and Eyad Kourdi contributed reporting.
Iran says "contradictory" positions of US is main issue in negotiations
Iran’s main problem in negotiating with the United States is Washington’s changing and contradictory positions, according to Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei.
Speaking with CNN’s Senior International correspondent Frederik Pleitgen in Tehran Sunday, Baghaei said the exchange of messages continued through Pakistani mediators.
“The main problem of negotiating with this administration is that you have to face so many changing positions, moving the goal posts, different statements, contradictory remarks by different officials, so it makes the whole process very cumbersome,” Baghaei said.
There were quite a number of sticking points, he said, “but the main issue is that the Americans must understand that they have to recognize Iran’s rights,” including its right to peaceful nuclear enrichment under the international non-proliferation treaty.
“At the same time, when they are talking about our blocked assets they’re not going to give us any concession,” Baghaei said.
Iran is demanding that the US agree to unfreeze billions of dollars in frozen assets held in foreign banks.
CNN reported Sunday that the US plans to allow Iranian assets to be used to support rebuilding in Gulf countries impacted by future Iranian attacks, according to a source familiar with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s thinking.
The Treasury Department will also consider using Iranian assets to support repairs for past damage, according to the source who confirmed earlier reporting from Reuters on Saturday.
The US must “simply must stop their sanctions,” Baghaei told CNN. “As far as the sanctions and blocked assets are concerned, they simply need to let Iranian assets be released and be available for the Iranians.”
Baghaei accused the US of not respecting the ceasefire that came into effect in April. “They have been attacking our commercial ships, both in the Strait of Hormuz and in the high seas,” he asserted.
The situation is very volatile and very dangerous, Baghaei added, “and it’s all because of the United States’ reckless approach towards the region, and towards basically the ceasefire.”
The US military has said it remains ready to “continue defending against Iranian aggression” in the Gulf and said it shot down two more Iranian drones that were a threat to shipping on Saturday night.
Baghaei warned that Iran’s armed forces “are steadfast or resolute to respond to any attacks with all force.”
Editor’s Note: CNN operates in Iran only with the permission of the government but maintains full editorial control of its reports.
Pakistani mediator meets Iran's foreign minister with ceasefire under strain
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with Pakistan’s envoy on peace talks with the United States in Tehran Sunday, according to Iranian media.
Araghchi met with Mohsin Naqvi, who is also Pakistan’s Interior Minister, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.
Pakistan has been mediating between Iran and the US in an effort to solidify the ceasefire that began in April.
Naqvi met his Iranian counterpart, Eskandar Momeni on Saturday night, and said he was in Iran again to deliver a message to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, from Pakistani military chief Asim Munir.
The US and Iran appear to be far apart on issues such as Iran’s nuclear enrichment program, its stocks of enriched uranium, its demand for the unfreezing of billions of dollars in assets held in foreign banks and freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.
In an interview on Friday, US President Donald Trump said the Iranians are “strong, they’re proud, there are things they never thought they’d be doing that they’re going to have to do. They’ve got no choice, and it takes a little while.”
Trump has previously said he is prepared to be patient while a memorandum of understanding between the two countries is finalized, even as violations of the ceasefire occur almost daily.
Israel intercepts two projectiles from Lebanon, its military says
The Israel Defense Forces said on Sunday it intercepted two projectiles that crossed from Lebanon into northern Israeli territory.
This came “following the sirens that sounded… in the Yiftah and Ramot Naftali areas,” it said, just before 9 a.m. local time on Telegram.
Fighting between the Israeli military and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah has intensified in southern Lebanon despite a US-mediated ceasefire agreed by the Israeli and Lebanese governments earlier in the week. Hezbollah, which was not party to the agreement, has rejected the pact.
US military downs 2 more Iranian drones
The US military downed more Iranian drones, which it said were threatening vessels in shipping chokepoint the Strait of Hormuz.
The military said it remains ready to “continue defending against Iranian aggression.”
The drones’ downing comes after the US struck down four other attack drones on Friday.
US plans to allow Iranian assets to be used for rebuilding in Gulf states, source says
The United States plans to allow Iranian assets to be used to support rebuilding in Gulf countries impacted by future Iranian attacks, according to a source familiar with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s thinking.
The Treasury Department will also consider using Iranian assets to support repairs for past damage, according to the source who confirmed earlier reporting from Reuters on Saturday.
Bessent’s team will assess conditions in Gulf countries and request estimates of the cost of repairing damage inflicted by Iran since the start of the conflict.
The US plan comes as Tehran has once again targeted Gulf states, with Kuwait and Bahrain recently intercepting ballistic missiles launched from Iran. Several Gulf states have faced repeated Iranian attacks since the US and Israel first launched strikes in February.
Pakistan’s interior minister in Tehran for further negotiations
Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi arrived in Tehran, Iran, on Saturday for a new round of negotiations on behalf of the United States.
Naqvi was set to meet with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi during the visit, semi-official Tasnim News agency reported. Semi-official Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA) separately reported that Naqvi carried a letter from Pakistani Army Chief Asim Munir to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who has continued to keep a low public profile since assuming his post in March.
This new round of talks comes as Pakistan has been attempting to position itself as a regional mediator in the wake of the US-Iran war.
