Main Points Oil prices rose this morning as peace talks between the US and Iran stalled while shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remained limitedBrent crude futures – a key measure of oil prices – rose 1.3 per cent to $106.68 a barrel Brent crude had been trading around $72 before the US and Israel attacked IranIran has reportedly given the US a new proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz Iran’s plan includes calls for postponing nuclear negotiations, according to US officialsDonald Trump will meet national security officials today after cancelling plans to send a delegation to Pakistan for talks with Iran The shooting suspect who sought to breach the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Cole Tomas Allen, is set to be arraigned today Best Reads
Ronan McGreevy – 3 minutes ago
Von der Leyen rules out lifting sanctions on Iran
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen says it’s too early to stop sanctions on Iran.
She said sanctions were imposed due to Iran’s suppression of its own population.
“We think the dropping of sanctions would be too early”, she said in Berlin at a meeting of the conservative CDU party and its CSU Bavarian sister party.
“We first have to see a change, a fundamental change in Iran for the dropping of sanctions,” von der Leyen added.
Ronan McGreevy – 7 minutes ago
Israel kills three Hizbullah members
The Israeli military says it killed three Hizbullah members during operations in southern Lebanon yesterday.
In an update on Telegram, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) says three Hizbullah fighters were identified approaching Israeli soldiers “south of the forward defence line”.
Israel has what it calls a “buffer zone” extending around 10 kilometres into Lebanese territory, needed, it says, to reduce the threat from Hizbullah.
It means around 5 per cent of Lebanon is now under Israeli military occupation.
“Following the identification, the Israeli Air Force struck and eliminated the terrorists in order to remove the threat,” the IDF says.
A ceasefire is currently in place between Lebanon and Israel. Hizbullah is not a signatory to the agreement, but the deal is intended to end fighting between Israel and the group.
Despite this, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered his troops to attack Hizbullah targets in Lebanon after suggesting the group’s actions are “disintegrating the ceasefire”.
Ronan McGreevy – 13 minutes ago
Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu is facing the prospect of running against a rightwing-centrist super coalition in elections later this year after two of his most formidable political rivals combined forces in an attempt to oust him, inviting a third party leader to join them.
In a move that some analysts compared to the centre-right coalition that removed Viktor Orbán from power in Hungary, the former prime ministers – right-wing Naftali Bennett and centrist Yair Lapid – issued statements announcing the merger of their parties, Bennett 2026 and Yesh Atid (There is a Future).
The move came as Netanyahu disclosed he had recently had a malignant tumour removed from his prostate, leading to questions about the timing of a disclosure that was vague on details and his wider health, with the latter now likely to be an election issue.
“We are standing here together for the sake of our children. The state of Israel must change direction,” Lapid said standing alongside Bennett at a joint news conference on Sunday.
Bennett said the new party would be called Together and that he would be its leader. “After 30 years, it is time to part with Netanyahu and open a new chapter for Israel,” he said.
Ronan McGreevy – 23 minutes ago
Iran ‘offers to end chokehold on Strait of Hormuz’
Iran is offering to end its chokehold on the strait of Hormuz without addressing its nuclear program, two regional officials with knowledge of the proposal said Monday.
It comes as the country’s foreign minister made a visit to Russia he said was an opportunity to consult with Moscow regarding the war against Israel and the United States.
Iran also wants the US to end its blockade of the country as part of its proposal, said the two officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door negotiations.
The new proposal, passed to the United States by Pakistan, likely won’t be supported by US president Donald Trump, who wants to end Iran’s atomic program as part of an overall deal to reopen the strait of Hormuz and make the ceasefire permanent.
“We have all the cards. If they want to talk, they can come to us, or they can call us,” Trump said Sunday to Fox News Channel.
Ronan McGreevy – 24 minutes ago
Hizbullah leader Naim Qassem on Monday rejected Lebanon’s planned direct talks with Israel, calling them a “grave sin” that will destabilise Lebanon.
“We categorically reject direct negotiations with Israel, and those in power should know that their actions will not benefit Lebanon or themselves,” Qassem said in a statement, calling on authorities to “back down from their grave sin that is putting Lebanon in a spiral of instability”.
“These direct negotiations and their outcomes are as if they do not exist for us, and they do not concern us in the slightest,” he added, saying “we will continue our defensive resistance for Lebanon and its people”.
“No matter how much the enemy threatens, we will not back down, we will not bow down, and we will not be defeated.”
Ronan McGreevy – 2 hours ago
Iranian minister blames US for breakdown of Islamabad talks
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi has reiterated that excessive demands by the United States were the cause of the breakdown of talks in Islamabad.
Araghchi has arrived in St Petersburg ahead of talks with the Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Iran has been one of Russia’s few allies following its invasion of Ukraine.
His trip over the weekend has included two stops in Pakistan and a visit to Oman, which shares the strait with Iran.
Araghchi’s visit comes as a stand-off between Iran and the US in the crucial Strait of Hormuz persists despite a ceasefire, keeping oil prices high.
“It is a good opportunity for us to consult with our Russian friends about the developments that have occurred in relation to the war during this period and what is happening now,” Araghchi said in a video interview posted by IRNA.
Pakistan has been seeking to revive stalled talks between Iran and America, and negotiations had been expected in Islamabad over the weekend. But US president Donald Trump has suggested the talks could take place by phone instead.
Araghchi said it was America’s approach that “caused the negotiations to be delayed.
“The previous one, despite the progress that had been made, could not achieve its goals,” he said, blaming what he called Washington’s “excessive demands”.
Ronan McGreevy – 4 hours ago
Iran’s foreign minister in Russia for more talks
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Aragchi has arrived in Russia following talks with other nations over the weekend.
He is set to meet Russian president Vladimir Putin. Iran has been one of Russia’s only reliable allies in the latter’s war against Ukraine.
Araghchi’s visit comes after a trip to Oman, where he says talks focused on “ways to ensure safe transit that is to benefit of all dear neighbours and the world” in the Strait of Hormuz.
Over the weekend, the foreign minister also said he had a “very fruitful” visit to Islamabad, where he “shared Iran’s position concerning workable framework to permanently end the war”.
“Have yet to see if the U.S. is truly serious about diplomacy,” he wrote on social media on Saturday.
Aragchi’s comments were followed by news that Donald Trump had cancelled plans for US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to visit Islamabad for peace discussions with Iran.
Ronan McGreevy – 4 hours ago
Lebanon says Israeli strikes killed 14 people on Sunday
Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli strikes on the country’s south killed 14 people on Sunday, the deadliest day since a ceasefire between Israel and Hizbullah came into force over a week ago.
The health ministry said the dead on Sunday included two women and two children, adding that 37 other people were wounded. Israel said one of its soldiers was also killed.
The US-mediated ceasefire – which started on April 16th and has been extended to mid-May – has brought a significant reduction in hostilities between Israel and Hizbullah, though both sides have continued to fire at each other, trading blame over breaches.
“Hizbullah’s violations are, in practice, dismantling the ceasefire,” Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu told a cabinet meeting on Sunday, adding “we act vigorously according to the rules we agreed upon with the United States, and also, by the way, with Lebanon.”
Hizbullah said it would not cease its attacks on Israeli troops inside Lebanon and on towns in northern Israel as long as Israel continued its “ceasefire violations”.
Israeli troops are operating inside what they have labelled a “yellow line”, which demarcates a ribbon of Lebanese territory around 10km deep along the length of the border, where residents have been warned not to return.
Hizbullah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war on March 2nd by firing rockets at Israel to avenge the death of Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes. More than 2,500 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since then.
The toll includes 277 women, 177 children and 100 medics, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.
Hizbullah attacks have killed two civilians in Israel while 16 Israeli soldiers have died in Lebanon since March2nd, Israel says. – Reuters
Ronan McGreevy – 4 hours ago
Iran provides plan to reopen Strait of Hormuz
Iran has given the US a new proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the war that includes postponing nuclear negotiations, Axios reported, citing a US official and two people with knowledge of the matter.
The plan, conveyed through mediators in Pakistan to break a stalemate with Washington, calls for extending the ceasefire so the parties can work toward a permanent end to the fighting, Axios said. Nuclear talks would come later, only after a US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz is lifted.
Pakistani mediators have given the proposal to the White House but it’s unclear whether the US wants to explore it, Axios said. Trump plans to hold a meeting in the White House Situation Room on Monday with national security and foreign policy officials, the news outlet reported.
“These are sensitive diplomatic discussions and the US will not negotiate through the press,” Olivia Wales, a White House spokesperson, said in a statement sent by email. “As the President has said, the United States holds the cards and will only make a deal that puts the American people first, never allowing Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”
Crude oil pared gains and Asian stocks extended advances in Monday trading following the Axios report, lifting sentiment after efforts to restart talks stalled. US equity-index futures erased earlier losses to rise 0.1 per cent.
Efforts to resume peace talks halted over the weekend after president Donald Trump cancelled a planned trip by his top envoys and the Islamic Republic said it won’t negotiate so long as it is being threatened.
Trump on Saturday acknowledged a new plan from Iran, saying that Iran quickly sent over a fresh proposal after he told his envoys to stand down on a trip to Pakistan for talks. – Bloomberg
Ronan McGreevy – 4 hours ago
The Government is exploring one-off payments toward environmentally friendly energy measures such as heat pumps and efficient cars amid the increasing political pressure of the global energy crisis, according to political correspondent Ellen Coyne.
Tánaiste Simon Harris has doubled down on a just transition from fossil fuels, even as the Government faces mounting calls to abandon its commitment to the carbon tax.
Harris has now asked officials in his department to consider payments that could be made available towards the structural costs of changing to more sustainable energy and electricity supplies.
You can read more here.