In Brief
- US President Donald Trump says the US is in talks with Iran, which the Islamic Republic has denied.
- As Israel continues to strike Lebanon, it says its military will seize a security zone in the country's south.
Airstrikes have battered Iran while Iranian missiles and drones have targeted Israel and sites across the Middle East, even as President Donald Trump said the United States was in talks with the Islamic Republic to end the war.
With thousands more US Marines on their way to the Gulf, both sides firing barrages and Iran denying any negotiations are taking place, the war’s tempo remained high a day after Trump delayed his self-imposed deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran has told International Maritime Organization member states that "non-hostile vessels" may transit the Strait of Hormuz if they coordinate with Iranian authorities, according to the Financial Times.
Tehran said in the letter that vessels linked to the US and Israel, as well as "other participants in the aggression, do not qualify for innocent or non-hostile passage", the FT said.
Its chokehold on that crucial waterway has snarled international shipping, sent fuel prices skyrocketing, and threatened the world economy.
Pakistan has offered to host diplomatic talks, but Iran remains defiant, vowing to fight "until complete victory".
The New York Times is reporting that the US has sent Iran a 15-point plan to end the war in the Middle East, demanding that a "free maritime zone" be created in the strait.
The document also calls for Iran's enrichment plants of Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow to be decommissioned, according to official sources on Tuesday.
Any talks between the US and Iran would face monumental challenges. Many of Washington’s shifting list of objectives, particularly over Iran’s ballistic missile and nuclear programs, remain difficult to achieve.
Meanwhile, it’s not clear who in Iran’s government would have the authority to negotiate — or be willing to, as Israel has vowed to continue taking out leaders after killing several.
Iran remains highly suspicious of the US, which twice under the Trump administration has attacked during high-level diplomatic talks, including with the 28 February strikes that started the current war.
Pakistan says it is ready to host talks
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif wrote on X that Pakistan is ready to "facilitate meaningful and conclusive talks" to end the Iran war.
The US had agreed in principle to join talks in Pakistan, according to three Pakistani officials, one Egyptian official and a Gulf diplomat, while mediators were still working to convince Iran.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to provide the details to the media. The State Department declined to comment on the reported efforts and referred instead to Trump’s comments about talks he says are underway directly between Iran and the US.
When asked about potential talks in Pakistan, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said it was a "fluid situation", adding that "speculation about meetings should not be deemed as final until they are formally announced by the White House".
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s office said he has been discussing the war this week with several counterparts. But Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, the speaker of Iran's parliament, denied Trump's claim of direct talks, and an Iranian military spokesman issued a newly defiant statement.
"Iran’s powerful armed forces are proud, victorious and steadfast in defending Iran’s integrity, and this path will continue until complete victory," Iranian state television quoted Major General Ali Abdollahi Aliabadi as saying Tuesday.
Aliabadi did not say what victory would look like, but Iran’s military could be trying to warn political leaders against offering concessions in any possible negotiations.
The Egyptian official said efforts are centered on "trust-building" between the US and Iran, with the aim of bringing about a pause in fighting. Israel is not involved.
The official, who is involved in the efforts, said the priority is to prevent attacks on regional energy infrastructure and that they were working on a "mechanism" for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Israel says will take control of south Lebanon
Israel said it carried out an extensive series of strikes on Iranian "production sites", without providing more information. In Tehran, a massive blast was heard in northern neighbourhoods and another in the city centre.
Iran also fired at least 10 waves of missiles at Israel, and first responders said three people were wounded in southern Israel and four others suffered minor wounds in Tel Aviv.
A Moroccan civilian contractor with the United Arab Emirates' armed forces was killed in Bahrain in an Iranian attack, the UAE Defense Ministry said. In Kuwait, power lines were hit by air defence shrapnel, causing partial electricity outages for several hours. Saudi Arabia said it destroyed Iranian drones targeting its oil-rich Eastern Province.
As Israel pounded Lebanon, it said its military would take control of south Lebanon up to the Litani River, around 30 kilometres from the border.
A night of bombardment of Beirut's southern suburbs was aimed at targeting infrastructure used by the Iran-linked Hezbollah militant group, the Israeli military said.
A strike on a residential apartment southeast of the Lebanese capital killed at least three people, including a three-year-old girl, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. Another five people were killed in the south.
In northern Israel, a woman was killed by shrapnel during an attack from Lebanon.
Meanwhile, Lebanon declared Iran’s ambassador persona non grata and ordered him to leave by Sunday. Hezbollah strongly objected to the move, calling on the government to reverse it.
Iranian flights have been banned from landing in Lebanon, out of fear that they would carry weapons or funding for Hezbollah, and some top Lebanese government officials have accused Iran of dragging Lebanon into another war with Israel.
Authorities say Israeli strikes have killed more than 1,000 people in Lebanon and displaced more than 1 million.
Iran’s death toll has surpassed 1,500, its Health Ministry has said. In Israel, 16 people have been killed. At least 13 U.S. military members have been killed, along with more than a dozen civilians in the occupied West Bank and Gulf Arab states.
Marines on way to the Persian Gulf
Trump’s announcement came as thousands of Marines headed to the region, raising speculation the US may try to seize Kharg Island, which is vital to Iran’s oil network. The US bombed the Persian Gulf island more than a week ago, hitting its defences but saying it had left oil infrastructure intact.
Iran has threatened to mine the Gulf if the US appears to be on the verge of landing troops.
Trump said he would hold off on a threat to bomb Iran’s power stations while talks unfold — a delay that could be aimed at buying time for the Marines to arrive, the New York-based think tank the Soufan Center wrote in an analysis.
However, the center also noted that "Trump could be actively seeking an offramp".
Trump has said he has no plans to send ground forces into Iran but has not ruled it out. Israel has suggested its ground forces could participate in the war.
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