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Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem urged Lebanon on Monday to cancel a planned meeting with Israel in Washington the following day, reiterating his group’s rejection of direct negotiations with Israel.
“We reject negotiations with the usurping Israeli entity…We call for a historic and heroic stance by cancelling this negotiating meeting,” Qassem, whose Iran-backed group has been at war with Israel since 2 March, said in a televised address.
The Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors to the United States are scheduled to meet in Washington on Tuesday to discuss holding direct negotiations between the two countries.
Lebanese authorities have stressed that Beirut first wants to secure a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war, but Israel has dismissed that prospect, saying it prefers instead to focus on formal peace talks with Lebanon itself, with which it has technically been at war for decades.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that “we want the dismantling of Hezbollah’s weapons and we want a real peace agreement that will last for generations.”
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Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced on Tuesday that she has suspended her country’s defense cooperation agreement with Israel over the conflicts throughout the Middle East.
Meloni said at an event in the northern city of Verona that her government “has decided to suspend the automatic renewal of the defense agreement with Israel in consideration of the current situation.”
Her announcement came about a week after the Israeli military fired warning shots at an Italian peacekeeping convoy outside Beirut, Lebanon. No one was injured in the incident, which Meloni called “completely unacceptable,” while Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani summoned the Israeli ambassador to Rome for a third time since 2024.
The 2003 Memorandum of Understanding was ratified by Italy in 2005 and is renewed automatically every five years.
U.S.-born Pope Leo XIV pushed back Monday on President Donald Trump’s broadside against him over the U.S.-Israel war in Iran, telling reporters that the Vatican’s appeals for peace and reconciliation are rooted in the Gospel, and that he doesn’t fear the Trump administration.
“To put my message on the same plane as what the president has attempted to do here, I think is not understanding what the message of the Gospel is,” Leo told The Associated Press aboard the papal plane en route to Algeria. “And I’m sorry to hear that but I will continue on what I believe is the mission of the church in the world today.”
Pope Leo has responded to President Trump’s attack on him by saying he has “no intention to debate” Mr. Trump on Iran.
On Sunday, Mr. Trump lashed out at the pontiff on social media, calling him “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.”
“I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon,” he added.
Leo had called Mr. Trump’s threat to wipe out Iranian civilization “truly unacceptable” and encouraged people to contact “political leaders … to ask them, tell them to work for peace.”
If you’re just tuning in to today’s live coverage of the US-Israel war on Iran, here’s the latest to bring you up to speed. It’s 9.30am in Tehran, 9am in Tel Aviv and Beirut and 2am in Washington DC.
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Donald Trump has said he doesn’t care if Iran comes back to negotiations with the US after the weekend talks in Pakistan ended without a deal. “I don’t care if they come back or not,” Trump told reporters in Maryland on Sunday. “If they don’t come back, I’m fine.”
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Trump said earlier that the US Navy would start blockading the Hormuz strait and also prohibit every vessel in international waters that had paid a toll to Iran. US Central Command said later it would begin a blockade of all Iranian Gulf ports and coastal areas on Monday at 10am ET (5.30pm in Iran and 1400 GMT), effectively seizing control of maritime traffic in the strait of Hormuz.
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Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warned that “approaching military vessels to the strait of Hormuz is considered a violation of the ceasefire”.
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Oil prices rose in early market trading after Trump’s blockade announcement. The price of US crude oil rose 8% to $104.24 a barrel and Brent crude oil – the international standard – rose 7% to $102.29. Australia’s share market dropped sharply on Monday morning.
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Iran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf taunted Trump on X, saying in a post: “Enjoy the current pump figures. With the so-called ‘blockade’, Soon you’ll be nostalgic for $4–$5 gas.” Earlier he said Trump’s new threats would have no effect on the Iranian nation: “If you fight, we will fight … We will not bow to any threats.”
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Trump and his advisers are looking at resuming limited military strikes in Iran in addition to the US blockade of the Hormuz strait, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing officials and people familiar with the situation.
Israeli settlers kill Palestinian man in raid on village Arab News PK
from news.google.com
ROME — In his strongest words yet, Pope Leo XIV on Saturday denounced the “delusion of omnipotence” that is fueling the U.S.-Israel war in Iran and demanded political leaders stop and negotiate peace.
Leo presided over an evening prayer service in St. Peter’s Basilica on the same day the United States and Iran began face-to-face negotiations in Pakistan and as a fragile ceasefire held.
Pakistan condemns storming of Al Aqsa Mosque by Israeli forces Pakistan Today
from news.google.com
The Israeli government instituted a policy prohibiting Christian Palestinian teachers who live in the West Bank from working in any of the 15 Christian schools in Jerusalem in a move that threatens to weaken the two-millennia presence of Christians in the Holy City.
School principals in Jerusalem recently received letters from the Israeli Ministry of Education stipulating that beginning in September they are required to only hire teachers who reside in the city and hold Israeli-issued qualifications.
The March 10 directive comes in the wake of a bill approved last July by the Education Committee of the Knesset (the Israeli parliament) aimed at prohibiting Palestinian teachers who earned their degrees at institutions in the West Bank from teaching in Israel or the occupied East Jerusalem.
Israel has passed a law making the death penalty by hanging the default punishment for West Bank Palestinians convicted of murdering Israelis.
The UK, Germany, France and Italy said the move was “de facto discriminatory” and “Israel risks undermining its commitments to democratic principles”.
A joint statement called the death penalty “an inhumane and degrading form of punishment without any deterrent effect”.
UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper posted the statement on X, adding: “The death penalty is wrong and we oppose it around the world.”
The University of Pennsylvania must provide the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission a list of employees who belong to Jewish groups, including their names and contact information, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.
The decision comes after Penn resisted a 2025 subpoena stemming from a charge that the university engaged in repeated harassment of Jewish employees, as detailed in Judge Gerald Pappert’s memorandum.
Penn has rejected the discrimination charge and claims that the EEOC’s subpoena is unconstitutional.
According to Zelenskyy, Kyiv has information that Moscow shared data on “some 50–53 facilities in total,” adding that these are civilian infrastructure sites with no military significance.
“It resembles the lives of Ukrainians under Russian attacks, when they target our energy grid or water supply systems,” Zelenskyy said.
“Of course, all the experience Russia has obtained during the war against Ukraine is being shared with Iran. This was the case with Shaheds, the same drones the Russians have, only used under a different name and upgraded to newer generations.”
President Donald Trump is weighing a range of military options against Iran as tensions escalate, with Pentagon planners outlining scenarios for what officials describe as a potential “massive final blow.”
According to Axios, President Trump has been presented with four possible paths.
Those plans reportedly include deploying U.S. troops and launching a ground operation targeting Kharg Island, a critical hub in Iran’s oil network.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth called out former president Barack Obama Thursday, accusing him of helping to finance Iran’s military with “pallets of American cash.”
“Many of the Iranian military factories and bases that we’re systematically destroying were paid for by the pallets of American cash that Barack Obama flew into Tehran under the Iran deal,” Hegseth said.
Critics have long condemned Obama for empowering the state sponsor of terrorism in 2016 with a $1.7 billion cash payout.
An apparent Iranian attack on a fully loaded Kuwaiti crude oil tanker at Dubai Port sparked a fire that was later extinguished, authorities said.
Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) said early on Tuesday that the Al Salmi tanker was struck in an Iranian attack while anchored at the port in the United Arab Emirates, causing damage to the vessel and a fire on board.
China, Pakistan lay out 5-point Mideast plan to end Iran war | Daily Sabah Daily Sabah
from news.google.com
UAE pushes for invasion as Gulf urges Trump to bomb until leadership change in Iran Türkiye Today
from news.google.com
President Trump announced, “As per Iranian Government request, please let this statement serve to represent that I am pausing the period of Energy Plant destruction by 10 Days to Monday, April 6, 2026, at 8 P.M., Eastern Time. Talks are ongoing and, despite erroneous statements to the contrary by the Fake News Media, and others, they are going very well.”
Middle East crisis live: Trump says he is ‘pausing’ planned destruction of Iranian energy sites as he claims talks are ‘ongoing’ – theguardian.com
Donald Trump has said he will extend his pause on his threat to attack Iran’s energy infrastructure for 10 days until 6 April, claiming that the request came from Tehran.
In a post on Truth Social, the US president claimed talks are going “very well” and repeated his attacks on the “fake news media” for reporting to the contrary (Iran has also reported to the contrary).
Trump threatened last Saturday to would strike Iranian energy infrastructure if Tehran did not reopen the strait of Hormuz.
Then, on Monday he postponed his threat for five days (until Friday), citing “very good and productive conversations” with Iran on ending the war (which Tehran dismissed as “fake news” designed to “manipulate” the oil markets).
Iran’s regime is publicly rejecting a U.S.-backed ceasefire proposal, escalating tensions even as President Donald Trump signals a willingness to negotiate an end to the conflict.
State-run outlets in Tehran reported Wednesday that Iran “will not accept a ceasefire offer from the United States.”
The rejection underscores the regime’s refusal to de-escalate despite mounting international pressure.
Wednesday on “The Alex Marlow Show,” host and Breitbart Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlow talked about Iran.
Marlow said, “So, the sweeping of these mines can be a massive job, a real pain in the butt, very time-consuming, but it wasn’t as many mines as I had feared initially yesterday. So I’m hoping it’s just a bargaining chip, because Trump has laid out what he needs in order to…take his foot off the gas.”
The U.S. is preparing to send thousands more troops to the Middle East, prompting speculation about a ground attack on Iran amid conflicting accounts of peace talks.
The Pentagon is reportedly preparing to send about 3,000 troops from the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East, alongside two Marine Expeditionary Units, to assist military operations in Iran. CNBC has contacted the White House and is awaiting a response.
Military experts said that the number of additional troops being deployed to the region appears to be consistent with plans for discrete and time-limited operations — rather than a sustained ground campaign.
Israel’s military said Thursday its forces had carried out a wave of strikes across Iran, as Tehran continues to insist that it will not negotiate on a peace deal. US President Donald Trump has warned he is ready to “unleash hell” if Iran does not accept a deal to end the nearly four-week Middle East war. Follow our liveblog for the latest updates.
The terrorist group that claimed responsibility for the attacks on Jewish ambulances in London issued a threat to the West, saying it would carry out more similar attacks on civilians.
The new organization, called The Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Righteous, has carried out terrorist attacks in other nations, including Greece and the Netherlands. It seeks to get revenge for wars in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran, according to a statement it gave to CBS News:
A group that has claimed responsibility for a series of attacks targeting Jewish institutions across Europe told CBS News it will continue targeting U.S. and Israeli interests a day after three men were captured by security cameras torching ambulances used by a global Jewish medical organization in London.
Hours later, the little-known group claimed responsibility for another attack, in which a car was burned in a Jewish neighborhood in Antwerp, Belgium.
“We’ll keep threatening U.S. and Israeli interests worldwide until we’ve avenged every child in Gaza, Iran, Lebanon, and the resistance nations,” a person representing the Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia group (which translates as: The Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Righteous) told CBS News late Monday. “We urge people to stay away from Zionist and American interests and individuals to keep themselves safe.”
Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia first announced its existence in early March, after the U.S. and Israel launched the ongoing war on Iran. In the 25 days since, it has claimed a series of antisemitic attacks across Europe. The group’s channel on the Telegram messaging app, where it has published a series of propaganda videos, was created just last week.
The United States has developed a 15-point proposal aimed at ending the war with Iran, according to people familiar with the plan.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive negotiations, several Middle Eastern officials said the plan offered extensive sanctions relief to Iran in return for the removal of all its enriched uranium material and abandonment of enrichment processing capabilities, limits to Tehran’s ballistic missile program, and the cessation of support to militant groups in the region including Hezbollah, the Houthis and Hamas.
President Trump voiced optimism on Tuesday that a peace deal will be reached with Iran, while insisting the war had already been won.
“This war has been won,” Mr. Trump said in the Oval Office. “The only one that likes to keep it going is the fake news.”
“We killed all their leadership,” he said when CBS News’ Ed O’Keefe asked which Iranians the U.S. was now negotiating with. “And then they met to choose new leaders and we killed all of them. And now we have a new group, and we can easily do that, but let’s see how they turn out.”
“It’s — we have, really, regime change,” the president said. “You know, this is a change in the regime, because the leaders are all very different than the ones that we started off with that created all those problems. So this was, I think we can say, Jason, this is regime change, right?”
Iran’s new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei is the son of the former supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, who was killed on the first day of the war. While the new leader has not been seen since he was tapped to succeed his father, and he’s believed to have been wounded in the same strike, there have been no signs of a disintegration of Islamic Republic’s well-defined power structure, with the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard still defiant, and seemingly in control of Iran’s war effort.
A bare majority of likely Republican voters say Israel has too much influence over U.S. foreign policy weeks into the Iran War, a poll shared with the Daily Caller News Foundation shows.
Just over half — 51% of Republicans — answered “yes” when asked “Does Israel have too much influence over American foreign policy?” compared to 43% who said “no,” according to a Democracy Institute national survey of U.S. likely voters released Monday. Meanwhile, 63% of all voters, including 74% of Democrats, agreed that Israel has too much influence.
The poll’s release came just under a month after the U.S. and Israel jointly launched strikes on Iran killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and dozens of other officials of the Islamist regime.
The ongoing war in Iran has killed at least 13 U.S. service members and ranks among one of the least popular conflicts in modern U.S. history at its relative point in time. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released the day after the strikes found that only 27% of U.S. adults approved of them.
Iranian missiles have caused damage in central Israel, raising new questions about the effectiveness of the country’s air defence systems despite claims that most projectiles are intercepted. Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim reports.