President Donald Trump announced “major combat operations” against Iran on Feb. 28, with massive joint U.S.-Israeli strikes targeting military, government and infrastructure sites.
Following the announcement of a two-week ceasefire, initial U.S.-Iran talks in Pakistan in April failed to reach a peace deal.
Trump later announced the open-ended extension of the ceasefire and the continuation of a U.S. blockade until negotiations are concluded “one way or the other.”
Latest Developments
May 26, 12:28 PM
Iran’s internet blackout partially lifted
The internet blackout in Iran has been partially lifted after 87 days of a nationwide blackout.
May 26, 10:20 AM
IDF urges more evacuations in Lebanon as strikes continue
Israel continues to target Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon and the Beqqa Valley in the east, saying it hit over 100 sites overnight, the Israeli Defense Forces said Tuesday.
The military issued a warning to residents in the village of Mashghara, in the Beqaa Valley, urging them to evacuate to the north.
A ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon has been in place since mid-April, but Israel has continued to target Hezbollah in several regions.
Hezbollah has continued to target Israeli forces in the southern Lebanon and repeatedly fired projectiles at northern Israel.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
May 26, 7:27 AM
Khamenei says US will no longer have ‘safe haven’ in Middle East
A statement posted to Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei’s official X account and read out on Iranian state television on Tuesday said that the countries of the Middle East “will no longer serve as shields for American bases” as a result of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.
“The hand of time does not turn back,” the statement attributed to Khamenei said. “America will no longer have a safe haven for mischief and the establishment of military bases in the region.”
Khamenei has not been seen in public since being elected as the successor to his father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed on Feb. 28 by airstrikes targeting his office in Tehran in the opening hours of the U.S.-Israeli campaign.
-ABC News’ Othon Leyva
May 26, 12:32 AM
Strait of Hormuz ‘going to be open, one way or the other,’ Rubio says
Secretary of State Marco Rubio pressed for the opening of the Strait of Hormuz as soon as an agreement with Iran is reached, saying the strait will be open, “one way or the other.”
During a gaggle with reporters during his multi-nation diplomatic tour, Rubio said that there is not a country in the world that favors Iran’s self-imposed “tolling system,” calling it, “unacceptable,” and “unsustainable for the world.”
“What’s happening there is unlawful. It’s illegal. It’s unsustainable for the world. It’s unacceptable,” Rubio said, adding: “The Russians are not in favor of a tolling system. The Chinese are not in favor of a tolling system. I mean, there’s no country in the world that’s in favor of a tolling system, except the regime in Iran.”
Regarding the emerging potential deal between the U.S. and Iran, Rubio said that while there is support for a preliminary draft from a “number” of regional leaders, it will take a “couple of days,” to come to an agreement.
“The president had a very important, I think, historic call just a couple days ago with a number of leaders from the region. I think there’s strong alignment and agreement on what a preliminary draft should look like,” Rubio said. “I think, like anything with something like this, it’s going to take a couple days to settle on … If there’s going to be a deal, we’re going to have to work through that, but this is, you know, it’s either going to be a good deal or there isn’t going to be one.”
May 25, 7:18 PM
US forces target missile launch sites, boats in ‘self-defense’ strikes in Iran: CENTCOM
U.S. forces on Monday launched what U.S. Central Command described as “self-defense strikes” in southern Iran.
“U.S. forces conducted self-defense strikes in southern Iran today to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces,” CENTCOM spokesperson Capt. Tim Hawkins said in a statement. “Targets included missile launch sites and Iranian boats attempting to emplace mines. U.S. Central Command continues to defend our forces while using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire.”
The strikes were conducted in the area of Bandar Abbas, which is where Iran’s main naval base is located, according to Hawkins.
A U.S. official described the scope of the strikes as “very small.”
-ABC News’ Steven Beynon
May 25, 6:44 PM
Trump says preference is Iran’s enriched uranium be destroyed ‘in place’ or ‘another acceptable location’
President Donald Trump said Iran’s enriched uranium can be turned and destroyed in the U.S., but that his preference is for it to be destroyed “in place” or at “another acceptable location,” with IAEA oversight.
“The Enriched Uranium (Nuclear Dust!) will either be immediately turned over to the United States to be brought home and destroyed or, preferably, in conjunction and coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran, destroyed in place or, at another acceptable location, with the Atomic Energy Commission, or its equivalent, being witness to this process and event,” Trump said in a post on his social media platform.
This presents a shift as Trump has long demanded that Iran hand over its enriched uranium to the U.S. as a sticking point of any potential deal.
In April, Trump said: “The U.S.A. will get all Nuclear ‘Dust,’ created by our great B2 Bombers – No money will exchange hands in any way, shape, or form.”
Last week, Trump said that getting the enriched uranium is important for the U.S. “psychologically.”
Trump has also repeatedly insisted that Iran has admitted to him that only the U.S. has the capability to uncover and obtain the so-called “nuclear dust.”
-ABC News’ Emily Chang
May 25, 3:48 PM
Israel will ‘intensify’ strikes in Lebanon, Netanyahu says
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will “intensify” strikes in Lebanon.
“We are not taking our foot off the gas. On the contrary, I have instructed them to press the pedal even harder,” he said in a video message on Monday.
“What is required from us now is to intensify the blows, increase the force,” he said. “We will strike them decisively.”
The message comes as the Israel Defense Forces said Monday it struck more than 70 “Hezbollah infrastructure sites” across Lebanon.
May 25, 1:27 PM
Trump honors troops killed in Iran war
President Donald Trump honored the 13 service members killed during the war in Iran while delivering Memorial Day remarks at Arlington National Cemetery.
“In Operation Epic Fury, we lost 13 wonderful souls, wonderful special people,” he said. “These incredible men and women gave their lives to ensure that the world’s number one state sponsor of terror will never have a nuclear weapon. Oh, and they won’t. They will never have a nuclear weapon.”
Seven service members died following the opening wave of Iranian retaliatory attacks across the Middle East, and six Air Force airmen were killed when a U.S. KC-135 refueling aircraft crashed in western Iraq.
May 25, 6:53 AM
Trump says Iran deal critics ‘know nothing’ of potential agreement
President Donald Trump on Monday again insisted that his proposed Iran deal is the “exact opposite” of former President Barack Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran, attacking Democrats and his GOP adversaries in a new social media post.
“The deal with Iran will either be a great and meaningful one, or there will be no deal. It will be the exact opposite of the JCPOA disaster negotiated by the failed Obama Administration, which was a direct and open path to a Nuclear Weapon for Iran. No, I don’t do deals like that!” Trump wrote.
The president said that his critics “know nothing” about the potential deal he is working on, adding that “things haven’t even been negotiated yet.” On Saturday, Trump claimed an “agreement had been largely negotiated.”
Trump also criticized his Republican adversaries, including Sen. Bill Cassidy, Rep. Thomas Massie, and Sen. Thom Tillis. While pointing to Cassidy and Massie’s recent primary losses, Trump added that Tillis is also “Soon out of office!”
In a subsequent post, the president wished Americans a happy Memorial Day, “including the Dumocrats, who disrespect our Military and all of the tremendous success that it has had over the last year.”
-ABC News’ Emily Chang
May 25, 5:09 AM
‘No one’ can say deal is imminent despite progress, Baghaei says
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told a Monday press conference that the U.S. and Iran have “reached a conclusion on a large part of the issues under discussion,” though stressed that “no one” can say that the finalization of a deal is “imminent.”
Tehran is “witnessing frequent changes in positions” from the U.S. side, Baghaei said, as quoted by the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency.
“Within a few hours you will encounter different and in many cases contradictory views,” Baghaei told reporters of the talks.
Baghaei also addressed different facets of a possible deal, saying a ceasefire of the war on all fronts — including Lebanon — was part of the draft agreement. He also said details about the management of the Strait of Hormuz are still undecided.
“We have not entered into the details of this agreement. How the Strait of Hormuz will be managed is a matter that concerns the coastal states of the strait,” Baghaei said.
He added that no Iranian delegation visit to Pakistan, the mediating country, is planned at the moment.
“We are now focused on the negotiation process. How the understanding will be announced or signed later is an issue that there is time to decide on in the future,” Baghaei said.
-ABC News’ Victoria Beaule
