for five days<\/a>.<\/p>\nMeanwhile, Iran fired a new missile barrage at Israel, Gulf countries reported repeated drone and missile interceptions, and fighting intensified in Lebanon and Iraq.<\/p>\n
Here is what we know:<\/p>\n
In Iran
\nTrump\u2019s claims: Trump claimed that discussions are ongoing with Iran to reach a broader peace agreement, stating that \u201cIran means business.\u201d
\nIran\u2019s denial: Iranian officials firmly rejected these claims, with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and parliamentary leaders calling the statements \u201cfake news\u201d and a \u201cbig lie\u201d. Iranian officials have accused the US of fabricating these claims to manipulate global oil and financial markets, and to buy time as more US troops deploy to the region.
\nUS ultimatum: Over the weekend, Trump had issued a 48-hour deadline demanding that Iran reopen the Strait of Hormuz. He threatened to \u201cobliterate\u201d Iranian power plants if Tehran failed to comply. On Monday, the deadline was extended for five days.
\nStrait of Hormuz remains closed: Despite international pressure and severe economic fallout in Asia, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi iterated that Iran\u2019s stance on the Strait of Hormuz had not changed.
\nUS motivations and political pressures:\u00a0Niall Stanage, a White House columnist for The Hill, suggests that Trump may be looking for an \u201cexit ramp\u201d because the war has been domestically unpopular and is causing significant economic pain, particularly through rising oil and fuel prices.
\nIranian suspicion and strategy: Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera\u2019s Mohammed Vall noted that Iranian officials and state media are firmly projecting what he described as the \u201cpower of defiance\u201d. Vall explained that Tehran harbours deep suspicion regarding any messaging from Washington, viewing Trump\u2019s claims of peace talks as \u201cmanoeuvring\u201d aimed at \u201cwinning time\u201d.
\nPro-government rallies: Despite heavy rain and the threat of bombardment, large crowds of pro-government demonstrators gathered in Tehran and other Iranian cities to denounce the US and Israel.
\nPakistani, Iranian leaders speak: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said he had spoken with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on \u201cthe grave situation in the Gulf region\u201d, and promised that Pakistan was committed to playing \u201ca constructive role in advancing peace\u201d.
\nIn the Gulf
\nMissile and drone interceptions in Kuwait: The country\u2019s air defences responded to multiple incoming missile and drone attacks. Alarms were sounded at least seven times in a single night.
\nAttacks targeting Saudi Arabia and Bahrain: Saudi Arabia intercepted approximately 20 drones targeting its Eastern Province, a critical region that houses the majority of the kingdom\u2019s energy and oil facilities. Additionally, Bahrain\u2019s Ministry of Interior has sounded warning alarms numerous times over the past 24 hours.
\nRegional sentiment across the Gulf: Officials and civilians are pleading for dialogue and de-escalation.
\nUK sends Gulf air defences: The UK is sending short-range air defence systems to the Middle East to counter Iranian missile attacks, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
In the US
\nAdministration\u2019s stance on Iran peace talks:\u00a0 Following Trump\u2019s claims of having \u201cproductive\u201d conversations with Tehran, the White House has pushed back against speculation regarding an imminent deal. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt cautioned that the situation is \u201cfluid\u201d and stated that \u201cspeculation about meetings should not be deemed as final\u201d until officially announced.
\nPentagon closes press offices: The US Department of Defense is closing its famous \u201cCorrespondents\u2019 Corridor\u201d and relocating press offices to an unnamed annex. This decision comes after a district court struck down the Trump administration\u2019s new press credential rules, which would have required journalists to sign agreements promising not to publish classified or unauthorised information.
\nThreat level raised in Mauritania: The US Embassy in Mauritania has issued an elevated threat notice for American citizens and embassy staff due to a recent threat of \u201cterrorist attacks\u201d.
\nIn Israel
\nNew missile salvo: Iran fired missiles at Israel early Tuesday, the Israeli military said, noting that the barrage was aimed at the country\u2019s north and that its substantial air defences were \u201cworking to intercept the threat\u201d.
\nIsraeli interceptor system malfunctions: A malfunction in Israel\u2019s \u201cDavid\u2019s Sling\u201d aerial interceptor system allowed two Iranian ballistic missiles to strike the south of the country, wounding dozens of people over the weekend, the military confirmed.
\nTrump-Netanyahu call: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had spoken with Trump and that the US president believed the countries\u2019 military gains in Iran could be converted into a negotiated agreement that protected Israel\u2019s interests.
\nIn Lebanon, Iraq, Syria
\nIsrael attacks Beirut suburbs: An Israeli attack hit the Lebanese capital\u2019s southern suburbs, hours after the Israeli army issued a warning for residents of the area to evacuate, saying it was \u201cstriking Hezbollah infrastructure in Beirut\u201d.
\nLebanon\u2019s escalation: Al Jazeera\u2019s Obaida Hitto, reporting from Beirut, described a \u201csignificant escalation\u201d as Israel expands its ground operations and destroys vital infrastructure, such as bridges. Hitto stresses that this strategy is trapping civilians and making it \u201cextremely difficult\u201d for the Lebanese armed forces to deliver humanitarian aid to the more than one million people displaced by the war.
\nSyrian base targeted:\u00a0 Syria\u2019s army said Monday that one of its bases in the northeast was hit by a missile strike from neighbouring Iraq, while an Iraqi official said a local armed group was behind the attack.
\nMilitary strikes in Iraq: The US military launched a strike in Iraq\u2019s Anbar province on the headquarters of an Iran-backed armed group. The attack was aimed at the group\u2019s senior commander, Saad Dawai.<\/p>\n
Iraq\u2019s battleground: Nicolas Haque, reporting from Baghdad, characterised Iraq as a secondary battleground where the US and Iran-backed groups are \u201cbattling it out\u201d. Haque noted that the US was engaging in \u201cdeliberate but calibrated targets\u201d against leaders of the Iran-aligned groups, leaving the Iraqi people caught in the crossfire.
\nOil, energy markets and Hormuz
\nStranded ships and South Korean turmoil: The closure has highly affected South Korea, which relies on the Middle East for more than 70 percent of its oil. The crisis forced the South Korean prime minister to cancel a trip to China to deal with the domestic economic fallout.
\nJapan\u2019s energy emergency: The situation is also dire for Japan, as nearly 95 percent of the country\u2019s oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz.
\nTargeting Hormuz \u2018economic terrorism\u2019: The chief of the UAE\u2019s state energy company ADNOC slammed Tehran\u2019s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which has caused a surge in oil prices, as \u201ceconomic terrorism against every nation\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EXPLAINER Trump claims talks on with Iran, as he holds off on energy attacks, but Tehran denies any…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":541885,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,30732,1127,1872,11501,3139,801,14945,803,133,31737,129,3,45063,111,131,1207,21,19,22,20,25,231941,24],"class_list":["post-541884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-bahrain","tag-conflict","tag-energy","tag-explainer","tag-international-trade","tag-iran","tag-iraq","tag-israel","tag-kuwait","tag-lebanon","tag-middle-east","tag-news","tag-oil-and-gas","tag-politics","tag-saudi-arabia","tag-syria","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-us-israel-war-on-iran","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=541884"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541884\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/541885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=541884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=541884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=541884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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<\/a><\/p>\n