What we're covering
• Trip canceled: President Donald Trump scrapped plans for a US delegation to visit Pakistan, saying talks will continue by phone after Iran declined to meet directly with American negotiators. Trump said he’s since received a new proposal from Tehran, offering “a lot but not enough.” He did not provide details.
• Stalled peace effort: Iran’s foreign minister, who just held talks in Oman after meeting with Pakistani mediators Saturday, said it’s not clear if Washington is “truly serious about diplomacy.” Negotiations have hit repeated roadblocks, with Trump blaming “infighting” in Tehran.
• Economic standoff: In the absence of a deal, a US naval blockade is causing rising food prices and unemployment for everyday Iranians, while Tehran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz has economic ripple effects around the world.
• In Lebanon: Meanwhile, Israel has launched more deadly strikes on southern Lebanon, despite a ceasefire agreement recently extended by three weeks. Iran-backed Hezbollah has fired rockets into Israel.
Iran’s foreign minister visits Oman, and death toll in Lebanon climbs: Get up to speed for the day
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stopped through Oman on Sunday after convening with Pakistani mediators on Saturday – as the US pulled back a negotiating delegation slated to visit the Pakistani capital. Araghchi is expected to return to Islamabad on Sunday night.
Elsewhere, in Lebanon, the death toll of Israel’s campaign rose to at least 2,496 people killed since March 2, according to the Lebanese Public Ministry of Health – marking a steep jump following the last update on April 17. The Israeli military threatened to keep striking what it says are targets of the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah despite a ceasefire that was recently extended.
Here’s what you need to know:
- Araghchi presses on with diplomatic tour: The Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met the Sultan of Oman on Sunday, as he continued holding talks with countries aiming to mediate the conflict. The Iranian foreign minister is set to return to Islamabad, Pakistan, on Sunday night, according to the semi-official Tasnim News Agency.
- Negotiations stalled: Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian warned Tehran would not accede to “forced negotiations” with the US, citing “hostile actions.” A day earlier, US President Donald Trump cancelled plans for his envoys to visit Islamabad – leaving US-Iranian negotiations at a stalemate.
- “Life became increasingly fragile”: Residents in Tehran have recounted the mental and physical trauma of trying to cope with war and bombardment. An Iranian-American photojournalist, Maryam Rahmanian, captured portraits of her fellow civilians, reflecting, “Some were focused on protecting loved ones. Others tried to hold on to a sense of normal life as that life became increasingly fragile.”
- Regime executes alleged Iranian protester: Iranian authorities executed at least two people this weekend – including one man for allegedly participating in anti-regime demonstrations earlier this year, according to the semi-official outlet, Tasnim news agency.
Israeli military issues fresh evacuation orders in southern Lebanon despite ceasefire
The Israeli military has issued fresh evacuation orders for residents in several areas of southern Lebanon, despite a fragile ceasefire that was recently extended by three weeks.
Urgent evacuation orders were issued for seven villages in the south of the country, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Sunday. All the areas appear to be north of the Litani River, which bisects Lebanon.
For context: Earlier this week, a ceasefire in Lebanon was extended for three weeks, but Israel has insisted that its forces will remain in southern Lebanon and fighting has persisted between Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
Iranian official says Hormuz will not return to previous state, citing order from supreme leader
Iran’s Deputy Parliament Speaker Ali Nikzad has warned the choked Strait of Hormuz will “under no circumstances” return to its previous state, citing an order from the country’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, Iranian semi-official media said on Sunday.
“We will under no circumstances return the Strait of Hormuz to its previous state, because this is an order from the Leader of the Revolution,” Mehr News Agency cited Nikzad as saying, referring to an order from Khamenei, who has still not been seen or heard in public since he was announced as leader.
Like the Strait of Hormuz, the Bab al-Mandab is another critical shipping chokepoint between Yemen and Africa.
In Khamenei’s first puported message as supreme leader earlier this year, he rattled global markets by doubling down on keeping closed the strait, which has become a key focal point of the US-Israeli war with Iran.
Iran executes two people, including one for role in January protests, Iranian media says
Iran has executed at least two people this weekend, including one for his alleged involvement in anti-regime protests earlier this year, according to Iranian semi-official media.
On Saturday, Iran executed Erfan Kiani after authorities accused him of “damaging and setting fire to public and private property,” as well as engaging in “violent acts” in the city of Esfahan during January’s anti-government protests, semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.
Earlier today, a man named Amer Ramesh was executed having been charged with “armed rebellion through bombings and ambushes against military forces” and membership of the separatist group Jaish al-Adl, according to the news agency Mizan, which is affiliated with Iran’s judiciary.
These are the latest in a string of recent killings, with Iran having executed four other people earlier this week after claiming the men were linked to Israeli intelligence services, Mizan News Agency reported.
Remember: US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Iran agreed to stop the execution of eight women protesters, crediting his direct appeal to Iranian leaders, though Tehran has pushed back on his assertions that the women were going to be executed.
Iran's foreign minister met with Sultan of Oman during regional visit
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with the Sultan of Oman during a visit to the Omani capital of Muscat, Iran’s state broadcaster, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), reported Sunday.
During the meeting, which took place at Al Baraka Palace on the city’s outskirts, the two discussed the latest developments in the region and latest efforts to end the US-Israeli war with Iran, IRIB reported.
Oman has played an significant role in the peace efforts by serving as a diplomatic bridge between the US and Iran. It controls the southern side of the key Strait of Hormuz waterway.
Pezeshkian says Iran will not enter "forced" negotiations under US pressure
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian has said Tehran will not enter into “forced negotiations” with the United States while facing pressure and threats, according to Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB.
In a phone call with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Pezeshkian said ongoing US actions were undermining trust and complicating any path to dialogue. He added that progress would remain difficult unless “hostile actions and operational pressures” from Washington are halted.
Pezeshkian said Washington must first remove “operational obstacles, including the blockade” of ships traveling to and from Iranian ports to create the conditions for resolving issues.
Sharif assured Pezeshkian that Islamabad “would continue its sincere and honest endeavors to promote regional peace and security,” according to a readout of the call from the Pakistani Prime Minister’s Office.
In a post on X, Sharif expressed appreciation for Iran’s decision to send a high-level delegation led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to Islamabad for talks aimed at ending the war.
The Iranian delegation left Islamabad on Saturday and arrived in Muscat, Oman, for further regional talks. US special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner were expected to travel to Islamabad on Saturday, but Trump canceled their trip at the last minute.
Iran foreign minister expected to return to Pakistan, state media reports
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is expected to return to Pakistan after his visit to Oman this weekend, according to Iran’s official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).
Araghchi previously said he left Islamabad for Oman on Saturday after a “fruitful visit,” though he did not meet with any US negotiators in the Pakistani capital.
IRNA also reported that the Iranian delegation that had accompanied Araghchi in Pakistan had returned to Tehran while the foreign minister was in Oman, and that the group would also likely return to Islamabad on Sunday night.
Iran and the US are in an economic standoff as talks stall
A United States naval blockade on Iran is strangling the Islamic Republic’s main economic corridors — leaving Tehran facing a looming oil storage crisis and its citizens grappling with rising food prices and surging unemployment.
Yet unless Washington is prepared to impose its naval blockade for months longer, it will be difficult to completely dismantle an Iranian economy that has spent years adapting to US pressure and crippling sanctions.
And as much as Iran is suffering, its leaders will be aware that Trump is under pressure too, with the US president facing growing backlash over the war domestically and crucial midterms looming. Tehran may have calculated that Trump will blink first.
Only three months ago, the Iranian government was on the brink of collapse after people took to the streets nationwide to protest the poor handling of the economy. That same government was given a lifeline when the US and Israel launched its attacks, and it is now using the pretext of war to justify dire economic conditions to a nation of 92 million.
“Iran had already faced the maximum pressure campaign in Trump’s first term, and it was forced to cut its oil production by half,” Esfandyar Batmanghelidj, CEO of think tank the Bourse & Bazaar Foundation, told CNN.
How some everyday Iranians are coping with war
When bombs started falling on Tehran in February, we heard much about the political ramifications, including from the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader.
But what about the ordinary people who call the capital home?
Maryam Rahmanian, an Iranian-American photojournalist living in Tehran, wants to tell their stories.
She took portraits of civilians who decided to stay in the city, asking them what the war meant to them and how it has affected their lives.
The accounts include that of Salemeh, 35, who said traumatic scenes have left a heavy toll on her mental health. “I jump at every noise, wondering if something has been hit again,” she said.
Akram, a 63-year-old Tehran resident, said the destruction and loss reminds her of how it was during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s. “It feels as if history is repeating itself in front of my eyes,” she told Rahmanian.
And Rezvaneh, a 22-year-old Korean language instructor, described how the lack of internet has left her without work.
