Explosions were heard ⁠in Iran’s Bandar Abbas city and coastal areas near ‌the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian media ‌reported on Monday, ‌adding ⁠that the cause was ⁠unknown.

Iran’s Mehr news agency said the situation in Bandar Abbas was ‌under control and there was no cause for concern after ‌the explosions were heard east of the city. It said ⁠official sources had not yet commented.

The Tasnim ‌news agency said three explosions were heard in Bandar Abbas, while the Fars news agency said ‌similar sounds were heard close to Sirik and Jask near the ⁠strategic waterway.

- Reuters

U.S. President Donald Trump said on ‌Monday (May 25) that it should be mandatory for countries, including ⁠Qatar, Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan and Turkey, to join the Abraham Accords en ‌masse as part of an effort to ‌reach a deal with Iran.

Mr. Trump ‌said ⁠he spoke on Saturday (May 25) ⁠to leaders of those countries, as well as Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, which already have ‌signed the accords, a set of agreements to normalise relations with Israel.

“I stated that, after ‌all the work done by the United States to try and pull ⁠this very complex puzzle together, it should be mandatory that ‌all of these Countries, at a minimum, simultaneously sign onto the Abraham Accords,” Mr. Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Monday.

- Reuters

Iran’s top negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, arrived in Qatar on Monday (May 25) as part of the “diplomatic process” to end the war with the United States, state media reported.

An Iranian delegation headed by “Mr. Ghalibaf, travelled to Doha today (May 25). This trip comes as part of the diplomatic process”, said the official IRNA news agency, adding that talks will be held to end the war that broke out on February 28.

Other media in Iran, including Tasnim and Fars news agencies, said the delegation included Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi as well as Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati.

AFP

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday (May 25) urged Muslim-majority nations, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Pakistan, to normalise relations with Israel as part of the Iran peace deal.

In a lengthy social media post, Trump listed countries whose leaders he spoke with on Saturday about efforts to end the war with Iran, adding: “I stated that, after all the work done by the United States to try and pull this very complex puzzle together, it should be mandatory that all of these Countries, at a minimum, simultaneously, sign onto the Abraham Accords.”

Israel’s military warned residents of 10 villages, most of them in southern Lebanon, on Monday (May 25) to evacuate their homes ahead of expected strikes against alleged Hezbollah targets.

“In light of Hezbollah’s violation of the ceasefire agreement, the Israel Defence Forces are compelled to operate against it with force,” the military’s Arabic-language spokesman, Colonel Avichay Adraee, said in a social media post, listing the names of the villages.

“For your safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and move at least 1,000 metres away from these towns and villages to open areas.”

- AFP

Israel’s two far-right ministers on Monday (May 25, 2026) called for an escalation of military operations in Lebanon, with one advocating strikes on Beirut in response to Hezbollah’s drone attacks.

“It is time for the Prime Minister to take a firm stand with Donald Trump and tell him that Israel is returning to war in Lebanon,” National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said on X.

“Electricity to Lebanon must be cut off, the Zahrani must be seized, and intensive warfare resumed,” he said, referring to a river in southern Lebanon which runs further north than current Israeli ground operations.

- AFP

Russian ‌President Vladimir Putin ⁠and Bahrain’s King Hamad ‌bin ‌Isa ‌Al ⁠Khalifa ⁠discussed by phone the need ‌to find a ‌rapid diplomatic resolution to ⁠the Iran ‌crisis, the Kremlin said ‌on Monday (May 25, 2026).

- Reuters

Iran said on Monday (May 25, 2026) that Tehran and Washington had reached understandings on many issues in exchanges over a deal for ending the war, but warned an agreement was not imminent.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday (May 25, 2026) that a deal with Iran would either be “great and meaningful” or there would be “no deal.”

“The deal with Iran will either be a great and meaningful one, or there will be no deal,” he wrote on Truth Social.

In his first encyclical, a sort of manifesto, U.S.-born Pope Leo focused mainly on the rise of artificial intelligence but also returned to an anti-war message that has caused tensions with Washington.

Gold prices climbed by ₹426 to ₹1.59 lakh per 10 grams in futures trade on Monday (May 25, 2026), tracking gains in global markets amid optimism surrounding a possible peace agreement between the U.S. and Iran.

On the Multi Commodity Exchange, the yellow metal for the June delivery increased by ₹426, or 0.27%, to ₹1,59,105 per 10 grams in a business turnover of 5,312 lots.

“Gold prices saw a notable uptick on Monday, driven primarily by a weaker U.S. dollar and optimism surrounding a potential U.S.-Iran peace deal,” Gaurav Garg, Research Analyst at Lemonn Markets Desk, said.

- PTI

Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday, state media reported, as diplomatic efforts by several countries to formally end the Iran war drag on.

Sharif’s meeting with Xi in Beijing, reported by Chinese state news agency Xinhua, followed talks earlier in the day with Premier Li Qiang, the country’s number-two leader.

- AFP

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson says we do not have currently a plan to send a delegation to Pakistan. “We’ve ‌reached ‌conclusions ⁠on ⁠many topics ‌discussed but ‌that does ⁠not ‌mean ‌we’re close ⁠to ⁠signing ‌an agreement,” the spokesperson said. “Iran is negotiating an end to the war and is not currently discussing nuclear issues.”

The Ministry said that the potential MOU has no specific details about the management of the Strait of Hormuz. “The management of the strait belongs to the coastal countries,” Iran said.

- Reuters

Israel’s military on Monday (May 25, 2026) warned residents of 10 villages, most of them in southern Lebanon, to evacuate their homes ahead of expected strikes against alleged Hezbollah targets.

“In light of Hezbollah’s violation of the ceasefire agreement, the Israel Defense Forces are compelled to operate against it with force,” the military’s Arabic-language spokesman, Colonel Avichay Adraee, said in a social media post, listing the names of the villages.

“For your safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and move at least 1,000 metres away from these towns and villages to open areas.”

- AFP

The U.S. has made significant progress in negotiations with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but President Donald Trump is maintaining a cautious approach and will not accept a bad deal, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday (May 25, 2026).

“Work is still in progress. We thought we might have some news last night, maybe today,” he told a small group of reporters before leaving for Agra.

“So we have what I think is a pretty solid thing on the table in terms of get the Strait open, enter into a very real, significant time-limited negotiation on the nuclear matters and hopefully we can pull it off,” , Mr. Rubio said. He said there has been global support for the ongoing efforts to end the conflict in West Asia, but added that the road to peace is not very easy.

- PTI

Israel said on Monday a soldier was killed in southern Lebanon, taking to 23 the number of its troops killed in the war with Iran-backed Hezbollah.

A military statement named him as 19-year-old Sergeant Nehoray Leizer of the 601st Combat Engineering Battalion, who “fell in combat in southern Lebanon”.

During the incident in which Leizer was killed, “an additional soldier was severely injured”, the Israeli military said separately on Telegram.

A total of 24 Israelis have been killed in the conflict, 23 soldiers and one civilian contractor, since hostilities began on March 2.

- AFP

‌Iran executed a ⁠man over charges ‌related to ‌the ‌anti-government ⁠protests ⁠that took place nationwide ‌in January, state media ‌reported on Monday.

The ⁠individual was ‌identified as Abbas Akbari, ‌according to state media. 

- Reuters

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said today that a deal to end the war with Iran could materialise “today”, adding that Israel had the right to defend itself against attack.

“We thought we might have some news last night, maybe today, I wouldn’t read too much into it,” Rubio said in New Delhi, referring to the potential agreement.

“We have what I think is a pretty solid thing on the table in terms of their ability to open up the straits, get the straits open,” he told reporters.

-AFP

U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace deal with Iran has run afoul of fellow Republicans who have voiced deep concerns over the move, contending that it would amount to recognising Tehran as a “dominant force” that required a “diplomatic solution”.

The Republican sceptics included Senator Roger Wicker, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senators Thom Tillis, Lindsey Graham, and Ted Cruz, who all questioned trusting Iran to stick to its commitments to the peace deal to end the nearly three-month war.

Surprisingly, Trump critic Senator Rand Paul counselled patience and urged critics to give the President space to find an America First solution.

Democrat senators also joined the critics of the peace deal, claiming that the President was “being played as a fool” and the emerging framework would merely amount to returning to the “pre-war status quo”.

-PTI

Israeli strikes pounded south and east Lebanon Sunday despite a ceasefire as Hezbollah’s chief expressed hope for an agreement between Iran and the United States to end the West Asia war that includes Lebanon.

Lebanon’s health ministry raised the overall toll in the war since March 2 to 3,123 killed.

It said two people, including a paramedic from the Hezbollah-affiliated Islamic Health Committee, were killed on Sunday in Israeli raids.

-AFP

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused Hezbollah in a statement Sunday of trying to plunge Lebanon “back into chaos.”

Mr. Rubio denounced what he called Hezbollah’s “reckless call to overthrow Lebanon’s democratically elected government” and said the pro-Iran armed group was “actively trying to drag Lebanon back into chaos and destruction.”

Naim Qassem, the leader of Hezbollah, said earlier that “the people have the right to go down onto the streets and to bring down the government” in response to Israeli strikes and US sanctions on the Al-Qard Al-Hassan financial institution.

-AFP

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday (May 24, 2026) that he had told U.S. negotiators “not to rush into a deal” with Iran, amid anticipation -- and mounting criticism -- of an agreement to end the war in West Asia.

“The negotiations are proceeding in an orderly and constructive manner, and I have informed my representatives not to rush into a deal in that time is on our side,” Mr. Trump wrote on his Truth Social account.

Read more: