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, 1:36 PM
Israel says it is seizing more territory in Lebanon
The Israeli military is seizing more territory as it expands ground operations in Lebanon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday.
“We are deepening our operation in Lebanon. The IDF is operating with large forces on the ground and is seizing controlled areas,” Netanyahu said in remarks at the start of a cabinet meeting.
“We are fortifying the security zone to protect the northern communities,” Netanyahu added.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
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.
“Following the mission of the esteemed President and in line with the government’s promise, the first step towards free and regulated access to cyberspace has been taken,” Mohammad Reza Aref, the first vice president of Iran, said in a statement Tuesday.
Adding, “With the reopening of the internet, smart services will be facilitated, the demands of the people who stood by the system and Iran will be met, and the obstacles to knowledge-based development and scientific authority will be removed.”
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.
Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images – PHOTO: A man rides his motorbike past a banner depicting Iranian leaders in Tehran on May 25, 2026.
-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.”
Julia Demaree Nikhinson/via Reuters – PHOTO: United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio visits India
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.”
US Navy – PHOTO: A U.S. Navy fighter jet launches from aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea.
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.
Kent Nishimura/AFP via Getty Images – PHOTO: President Donald Trump delivers remarks during a Memorial Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, May 25, 2026 in Arlington, Virginia.
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
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images – PHOTO: President Donald Trump delivers remarks during a Memorial Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, May 25, 2026 in Arlington, Virginia.
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.
Rod Lamkey/AP Photo/Rod Lamkey – PHOTO: President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, salute during the Memorial Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, May 25, 2026, in Arlington, Va.
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.”
Majid Asgaripour/via Reuters – PHOTO: A woman holds an Iranian flag near an anti-U.S. billboard depicting U.S. President Donald Trump and the Strait of Hormuz, in Tehran, Iran, on May 25, 2026.
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