Iran’s chief negotiator warned the United States was not to be trusted, saying Tehran would not agree to any deal with Washington unless it fully secured Iranian rights.

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf’s remarks came as reports emerged that U.S. President Donald Trump had sent a tougher peace proposal back to Iran, and underlined the rift that the parties still need to close.

Iran was already in talks with the United States about the fate of its nuclear programme in February when the U.S. and Israel launched air and missile strikes that wiped out much of the Islamic Republic’s senior leadership.

And, while Tehran has long insisted that its nuclear programme is for purely civilian ends, the United States and its Western allies suspect it aims to develop a weapon.

-AFP

Israeli forces are making their deepest incursion inside Lebanon since they withdrew from the country over a quarter-century ago, despite a nominal U.S.-brokered ceasefire and the first direct Israel-Lebanon talks in decades.

It’s a challenge in the emerging deal to extend the Iran war ceasefire as Tehran wants it to end fighting in Lebanon, too.

On Sunday (May 31), Israeli forces seized a symbolic fort in southern Lebanon, Beaufort castle, perched at over 700 metres (3,000 feet) above sea level. It offers commanding views across Lebanon and into northern Israel. The site has been a military asset for close to a millennium.

-AP

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday (May 31) he had ordered troops to move further into Lebanon in ⁠the battle against the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group, despite a ceasefire announced more than six weeks ago.

The fighting in Lebanon has been the broadest spillover of the Iran war, displacing more than 1.2 million Lebanese through Israeli strikes and evacuation orders ‌since March 2, when Hezbollah began firing rockets and drones into Israel to back its ally Iran.

The incursion has so far killed more than 3,370 people, according to the Lebanese government. ‌Israel says 24 of its soldiers and four civilians have been killed over the same period. Tens ‌of ⁠thousands of Israelis in the country’s north have also been displaced by Hezbollah rockets and ⁠drones.

- Reuters

An Israeli strike near a hospital in Tyre, south Lebanon, wounded 13 staffers, the Lebanese Health Ministry said, as Israel pushes forward its offensive deeper into the country.

“The Israeli enemy launched an airstrike in the vicinity of Hiram Hospital in Tyre, injuring 13 hospital staff members and causing significant damage,” the Ministry said in a statement, urging “the international community to put an end to the escalating and expanding Israeli attacks”.

-AFP

Iran’s chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said today that Tehran will not agree to any deal with the United States that fails to secure the rights of Iranians.

“We will not approve any agreement until we are certain that the rights of the Iranian people have been upheld,” Mr. Ghalibaf said, in a video broadcast on state television.

He added that Iranian negotiators “neither trust the enemy’s words nor its promises.”

His remarks came as Iran and Washington continue to exchange proposals over a framework for a deal to end the war that broke out on February 28, engulfing West Asia.

-AFP

The European ‌Union is considering ⁠a temporary freeze ‌to its ‌price ‌cap ⁠on ⁠Russian oil amid the ‌West Asia crisis, Bloomberg News ‌reported today, citing ⁠people familiar with ‌the matter.

Reuters could not ‌immediately verify the report.

-Reuters

When Senegalese farmer Abou Sow first watched U.S. missiles strike Iran on social media, he had a sinking feeling it would soon affect agriculture in the West African nation. Since the war began on February 28, fertiliser prices have risen by 40%.

Mr. Sow was better prepared than most. Eight years ago, he gave up chemical fertilisers for organic compost and other natural sources. He now rallies farmers in Senegal to buy manure from local herders and gives advice on how to make a rich compost, picking out wriggling worms – a healthy sign.

“We can’t afford to wait for a ceasefire,” Mr. Sow said. “It’s risky to depend on chemical fertilisers.” Iran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz has affected the supply of natural gas, essential for making chemical fertiliser, as well as global shipping.

The Gulf region produces 30% of globally traded chemical fertiliser, according to the International Food Policy Research Institute, and global prices have increased by 50%, according to the World Bank’s fertiliser price index.

-AP

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said today that the military had captured the strategic medieval fortress of Beaufort in southern Lebanon, where it is expanding ground operations against Iran-backed Hezbollah.

“Forty-four years after the heroic Battle of Beaufort, and on this day commemorating the soldiers who fell in the First Lebanon War (1982), our troops have returned to the summit of Beaufort and once again raised the Israeli flag there,” Mr. Katz said on his Telegram channel.

“Under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and my direction, the IDF expanded the operations in Lebanon, crossed the Litani River, and captured the Beaufort Ridge -- one of the most important strategic points for defending the communities of the Galilee and safeguarding the security of our forces.”

-AFP

State-owned SAIL expects the ongoing West Asia crisis to have only a marginal impact on its steel prices and is establishing alternative shipping routes to ensure the uninterrupted supply of raw material from the region, a top company executive said.

The company buys raw materials, such as limestone, from Dubai, Ashok Panda, the newly appointed Chairman of the steel major, said.

“So far as SAIL is concerned, we will have some impact with respect to the fluxes, limestone, et cetera, which we are buying from Dubai. So, the landed cost, the CFR (cost and freight) cost is going to go up, because it was around $23-$24, now it will be around $35,” the official said in reply to a question related to the impact of the West Asia crisis.

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The Israeli army announced Sunday (May 24, 2026) that one of its soldiers had been killed the previous day by a Hezbollah explosive drone in southern Lebanon, bringing to 25 the number of Israeli military deaths since early March.

Staff Sergeant Michael Tyukin, 21, “fell in combat in southern Lebanon,” the Army said in a brief statement. An army spokesman told AFP he was killed by a Hezbollah drone strike.

In total, 25 Israelis have been killed – 24 soldiers and one civilian contractor – since hostilities between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah resumed on March 2, when the Shiite militant group reopened the front in support of Tehran, following Israeli-U.S. strikes.

- AFP

The Israeli military warned Lebanese civilians living south of the Zahrani river to evacuate the region on Sunday (May 31, 2026), warning that it was stepping up operations against Hezbollah.

“Residents of southern Lebanon, you must move immediately to the north of the Zahrani,” the military’s Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee posted on social media.

- AFP

Israeli troops have captured a strategic mountain topped with a Crusader-built castle in southern Lebanon in their deepest incursion into the country in more than a quarter century.

The capture of Beaufort castle near the city of Nabatiyeh came after days of intense fighting and airstrikes in nearby villages where Israeli troops fought Hezbollah members in the rugged area.

The capture of the castle marks a major gain for Israel since the latest Israel-Hezbollah war began in early March and as the two countries that have been in a state of war since Israel was created in 1948 hold direct talks in Washington.

- AP

U.S. President Donald Trump said he had secured guarantees from Iran that it would not develop nuclear weapons, as reports emerged he had sent a tougher peace proposal back to Tehran.

The New York Times and Axios media outlets reported on Saturday (May 30, 2026) that Mr. Trump had sent back a new framework to be considered by Iran with “tougher” terms, though it was not immediately clear what that entailed.

Mr. Trump has said his priorities for any deal include stopping Iran from any nuclear weapon development and re-opening the blockaded Strait of Hormuz.

“The one guarantee that I have to have is that there will be no nuclear weapons. They’ve agreed to that, and it was very interesting,” he told his daughter-in-law Lara Trump in an interview broadcast on her Fox News program on Saturday night.

- AFP

Israel’s military said its forces were advancing in Lebanon as part of expanded ground operations to strengthen its military position in the south of the country where it is fighting with Iran-backed Hezbollah.

“A significant number of IDF ground soldiers commenced offensive operations aimed at expanding the Forward Defense Line...the operation is currently expanding to additional areas,” the Israeli military statement said, adding its forces had crossed the Litani river

AFP

U.S. President Donald Trump indicated that the peace deal with Iran is on the cards. He underlined that while military action remains a viable option if talks fail, Mr. Trump told Fox News that any agreement must include a guarantee against nuclear weapons.

In an interview with Fox News, Mr. Trump said, “We are making a great deal; otherwise we’ll just go back and finish it off militarily. We’re close to a very good deal, and if we can make it good, otherwise we just start up with the Department of War.”

Mr. Trump drew parallels with past military operations, including Venezuela, describing them as “one-day wins”, but said he hopes to avoid military escalation if a satisfactory deal can be reached. He also mentioned the potential for immediate benefits upon signing an agreement, such as reopening strategic straits.

On Iran, he reiterated his stance of defeating the country’s military and added, “We’ve essentially defeated their military. I would rather get a deal because we can open the strait immediately upon signing. The one guarantee that I have is that there will be no nuclear weapons. They’ve agreed to that.”

ANI

President Donald Trump has sought to change several terms of a proposal to end the war in West Asia, U.S. media reported Saturday (May 30, 2026), as a finalised deal remains elusive among the parties.

The New York Times reported Mr. Trump’s changes involved toughening the terms of the deal and have sent the new framework back to be considered by Iran, according to officials familiar with the proceedings.

The report said it was not immediately clear what the changes entailed, but news site Axios reported Mr. Trump wanted to reinforce multiple points of the deal that he personally felt were important, such as what is done to Iran’s nuclear material.

- AFP

Brazil’s government will renew its ‌main fuel subsidies for two ⁠months, it said in a statement on Saturday (May 30, 2026), citing ‌the continued impact of ‌the U.S.-Israel conflict with ‌Iran ⁠on fuel ⁠prices.

The federal government will pay a subsidy of 1.12 ‌reais per litre of diesel to domestic refiners and importers starting ‌on June 1, replacing two different subsidies that end ⁠on May 31.

The government also renewed ‌a subsidy for cooking gas and maintained tax exemptions for jet fuel until July ‌31, while announcing a cashback system meant to replace its ⁠tax exemption scheme for diesel, ⁠that was set to expire ‌on May 31.

- Reuters

The U.S. military said Saturday (May 30, 2026) it had disabled a Gambia-flagged cargo vessel attempting to sail to an Iranian port by launching a missile into its engine room.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees forces in West Asia region, said the strike occurred on May 29 after the M/V Lian Star failed to respond to more than 20 warnings.

“A U.S. aircraft disabled the vessel by firing a Hellfire missile into the ship’s engine room after Lian Star’s crew failed to comply. The ship is no longer transiting to Iran,” CENTCOM said on X.

The statement did not mention if there were any injuries aboard the Lian Star following the strike. Read more

- AFP

The waterway connecting the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea has emerged as the most consequential battleground of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, with Tehran effectively taking control of the route and rattling energy markets and the global economy.

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Lebanon’s Prime Minister accused Israel on Saturday (May 30, 2026) of pursuing a “scorched-earth policy” in his country’s south, urging a halt to the fighting as Israel carried out fresh airstrikes and issued evacuation warnings for more than a dozen locations.

A day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his forces had advanced deeper into Lebanon, his counterpart Nawaf Salam warned the country was facing a “dangerous” escalation, and called for “a swift and real ceasefire”.

In a televised address, Mr. Salam accused Israel of “pursuing a scorched-earth policy and collective punishment” by “destroying towns and villages, and forcing their inhabitants into exile”.

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