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21:49
Trump Concludes Situation Room Meeting On Possible Iran Deal
US President Donald Trump
WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump has concluded a White House Situation Room meeting on a possible agreement with Iran aimed at extending a cease-fire and advancing negotiations over Tehrans nuclear program.
A White House official confirmed that the meeting on May 29 had ended but declined to say whether Trump approved the proposed framework.
According to media reports, the tentative agreement would extend the current cease-fire by 60 days while negotiations continue on Irans nuclear activities.
Before the meeting, Trumpsaid on Truth Socialthat Iran must permanently forgo nuclear weapons, reopen the Strait of Hormuz without tolls, clear naval mines, and cooperate with the United States and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in eliminating highly enriched uranium stockpiles.
Trump also said the US would lift its naval blockade of Iran under the agreement.
There was no immediate response from Tehran.
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20:57
Global Oil Reserves Depleting At ‘Record Pace,’ Economic Organizations Warn
Vessels anchored at the Strait of Hormuz earlier this week. Iran has effectively blocked passage through the waterway — a crucial conduit for oil and gas supplies — since the start of its war with the US and Israel.
The heads of four major global economic organizations have issued a joint statement warning that oil reserves are being depleted “at a record pace” amid ongoing supply disruptions due to the near-total closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
The Heads of the International Energy Agency, International Monetary Fund, World Bank Group, and World Trade Organization met on May 28 as part of continuing efforts to coordinate their response to the crisis.
Global oil inventories are being drawn down at a record pace in response to the major loss of supply through the Strait of Hormuz, they said in ajoint statementissued on May 29.
If shipping flows do not return to normal, continued rapid depletion of global oil inventories ahead of peak summer oil demand in the Northern Hemisphere would present increasing risks for fuel security, market conditions, and broader economic resilience, it added.
Prior to the conflict that began with US and Israeli air strikes on Iran on February 28, a fifth of the worlds oil supplies were shipped through the Strait of Hormuz, along with large supplies of other major commodities, such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) and fertilizers.
Tehran blocked passage through the strait in response to the attacks, while Washington later imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports.
The disruption has led to a substantial oil price spike, although major economies have helped hold down the price increases by releasing oil from strategic reserves.
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18:59
Reports Suggest Iran Is Casting Doubt On Deal
Reports from within Iran have suggested that the Iranian authorities have not agreed to some elements of a deal with Washington mentioned by US President Donald Trump in asocial media post.
Reuters cited an Iranian source as saying the memorandum of understanding did not contain anything related to Irans nuclear program, for example. The source also said the text had not been finalized.
The same was reported by the Fars news agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), citing informed sources who described Trumps post as a mixture of truth and lies.
It also noted that Trumps remarks made no mention of certain issues that are important to Tehran, such as a $12-billion payment from frozen Iranian assets and establishing a complete cease-fire in Lebanon.
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17:19
Trump Says He’s Meeting ‘Now’ To Make ‘Final Determination’ On Iran Deal
US President Donald Trump
US President Donald Trump has said in a social media post that he will soon be entering a meeting at which he will make his decision about an agreement aimed at ending the armed confrontation between Washington and Tehran.
I will be meeting now, in the Situation Room, to make a final determination, he wrote onTruth Socialon May 29.
The comments follow reports in multiple US and international news outlets that the United States and Iran have reached atentative agreementon extending the current cease-fire and that it is awaiting Trumps final approval.
Trumps post also contains statements about elements of the deal.
This includes, he says, an Iranian commitment to never have nuclear weapons, to reopen the Strait of Hormuz without tolls, to demine it, and to cooperate with the United States and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in the destruction of its highly enriched uranium stocks.
Trump also says the US naval blockade of Iran will be lifted under the deal.
There has been official response from Iran to the earlier news reports on the agreement, which was said to contain a 60-day cease-fire extension during which negotiators would address Irans nuclear program.
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16:12
Netanyahu Says Israeli Troops Move North Of Litani River
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (file photo)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said his countrys troops have moved north of Lebanons Litani River, moving deeper into the country even as Israeli and Lebanese military officials were due to meet at the Pentagon.
The comments highlighted one of the many moving parts that complicate a potential deal between the United States and Iran, as Tehran insists that a cease-fire in Lebanon must be part of any such agreement.
Israeli forces are fighting Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy group operating in Lebanon that is regarded as a terrorist organization by Israel and the United States.
The conflict has continued despite a cease-fire, which now largely exists only on paper, that was agreed as part of the wider US-Iran truce in force since April 8.
Our forces crossed the Litani, and they advanced to the dominating terrain. We are operating in Beirut as well, in the Beqaa as well, across the entire front, and striking Hezbollah hard, Netanyahu said while visiting a military base in northern Israel.
The Pentagon meeting later on May 29 comes after three previous rounds of talks hosted by the United States. Hezbollah has denounced the discussions.
The latest Israel-Hezbollah fighting began when the group launched rocket attacks on Israel in early March, following US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28.
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15:37
Iran’s Top Negotiator Says Tehran Takes Concessions ‘With Missiles,’ Not Words
Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf (file photo)
Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, has laid out a blunt negotiating philosophy that frames any diplomatic agreement with the United States as a temporary cease-fire rather than a lasting resolution.
In apost on Xon May 29, Qalibaf wrote in Persian that Iran “takes concessions not through dialogue, but with missiles,” adding that negotiations serve only to communicate that reality to the other side.
He said Tehran places no trust in guarantees or written commitments, and that no Iranian action would precede a corresponding move by Washington.
The parliament speaker, who led the only round of peace talks with the US following the April 8 cease-fire, also declared that the winner of any agreement is “whoever prepares better for war in the days after it.”
Qalibaf’s comments come as US Vice President JD Vance told reporters earlier that Tehran and Washington were “very close” to a peace agreement, but added that it was too early to say “when or if” a deal would be finalized.
Vance told reporters late on May 28 that negotiators were “going back and forth on a couple of language points,” including on matters related to uranium enrichment.
Qalibaf, a former Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps commander whose profile rose sharply during the war following the assassination of a slew of prominent figures, is under pressure from hard-liners who insist Iran must secure maximalist demands while making few concessions.
Reports suggest that the emerging deal could extend the current cease-fire by 60 days and open negotiations on the nuclear file.
It would also reportedly restore unrestricted navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, give Tehran a month to clear mines from the waterway, lift the US naval blockade, and issue sanctions waivers permitting Iran to resume oil exports.
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13:30
CENTCOM Denies Claim Iran Shot Down US Drone
US Central Command (CENTCOM) has denied a claim by Iranian state TV that Iranian forces shot down a US plane near Bushehr.
“No U.S. aircraft were shot down. All U.S. air assets are accounted for,” CENTCOM said in a post on X.
Earlier, Iran’s state TV reported that air defenses destroyed a “hostile aircraft” in the Jam governorate in Bushehr Province, citing the local governor.
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09:51
US Expands ‘Maximum Pressure’ Campaign With Fresh Iran Sanctions
The United States has imposed sanctions on multiple entities, individuals, and vessels linked to Iran’s petroleum and petrochemical trade, continuing its “maximum pressure” campaign against the Iranian regime, according to afact sheetreleased by US State Department on May 28.
The measures include identifying eight vessels tied to Iranian oil shipments and sanctioning three entities and one individual involved in trading Iranian-origin petrochemical products.
Additionally, the State Department said it is offering arewardof up to $15 million for information leading to the disruption of the financial mechanisms of Iran’sIslamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and its various branches.
State Department spokesman Tommy Pigottsaid the sanctions imposed on May 28 “cut off billions in revenue that funds the IRGC, proxy forces, and attacks on our partners.”
“Any entity trading Iranian oil faces a serious risk of US sanctions,” he added.
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05:47
We are now closing the live blog for the day. We’ll be back at 7:30 a.m. Central European time to cover the latest events across the Middle East.
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03:39
Iran’s Soccer Team, Training In Mexico, Still Awaiting US Visas
Iran’s World Cup soccer team, which is training in Mexico, still has not received its visa for travel to the US, its ambassador to Mexico said on May 28.
The team is training in the northwestern Mexican border city of Tijuana, after it originally planned to have workouts for the upcoming World Cup in Tucson, Arizona.
Ambassador Abolfazl Pasandideh, who visited the Tijuana training site, told a news conference that “the country to the north” — referring to the US — has not followed through on its responsibility of hosting the Iranian team.
People walk past World Cup flags displayed on a building in Tijuana, Mexico, on May 23.
“We don’t know whether or not they’re going to give the players their visas,” he added.
Iran is scheduled to play its first two World Cup group matches in Los Angeles (June 15 against New Zealand and June 21 against Belgium) then in Seattle against Egypt on June 26.
The head of the Iranian Football Federation has said they were hoping players would be granted multiple entry visas to be able to travel to the games and back to the training base in Mexico.
“We aren’t participating in the World Cup on equal terms,” Pasandideh said. “We haven’t been able to train our team like they should,” he said, citing the war in the Middle East.
Iran’s participation in the World Cup has been uncertain for months because of the US war with Iran. The Iranian team had requested that its matches be switched to Mexico, which is co-hosting along with the US and Canada, but the request was turned down.
American officials have said they expect the Iranian team to travel to the matches in the US, despite the ongoing war, which currently is under a shaky cease-fire.
With reporting from AFPShare
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