‘Slight progress’ in peace talks, Rubio says

Iran is betting that its sanctions‑hardened economy can outlast the Strait of Hormuz crisis.

The United States, meanwhile, is contending with elevated oil prices, renewed inflation pressure and rising global recession risks.

Who will blink first?

Read this analysis from Nik Martin from DW’s business desk.

Pakistani Field Marshal Asim Munir departed for an official visit to Tehran on Friday, security sources confirmed to international news agencies.

Munir, Pakistan’s most senior military figure who has taken on an increasingly influential role in the country’s foreign relations, was initially expected in the Iranian capital on Thursday, but his departure was delayed.

“Munir has left today for an official visit where he will have meetings with Iranian leadership,” Pakistani sources said, according to the AFP news agency

Munir’s trip comes after Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi traveled to Iran on Wednesday for talks with President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

It also comes as Iran continues to examine a latest US proposal to end the Middle East war.

Pakistan has emerged as a key mediator between the United States and Iran due to its diplomatic ties to the former and its geographical and cultural proximity to the latter.

When direct negotiations between US and Iranian officials took place in Islamabad in April, Munir was at the center of the action, greeting both delegations upon arrival, including US Vice President JD Vance.

But the Islamabad talks ultimately failed, with Iran accusing the US of making “excessive demands.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday that a “Plan B” may be required to reopen the Strait of Hormuz if the United States and Iran fail to reach a deal in their ongoing war.

“We all would love to see an agreement with Iran in which the straits are open and they abandon their nuclear weapons ambitions. That’s what we would all hope for and that’s what we’re going to continue to work on,” Rubio told reporters in Helsingborg, Sweden, following a meeting with fellow NATO foreign ministers.

“But, we also have to have a Plan B. What if Iran refuses to open the straits? What if Iran decides: ‘We’re going to own the straits, and we’re going to charge tolls for it?’ At that point, something has to be done about it. They’re not just going to voluntarily open the straits.”

Rubio said he’d “raised that point today” and “got a lot of nods” from other NATO foreign ministers since “there are other countries here today which would be more deeply impacted by that than even the United States.

“I don’t know if it would be a NATO mission, but there would certainly be NATO countries which could contribute,” he said.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke about the negotiations between the United States and Iran to end the war, saying “slight progress” had been made. 

Negotiators saw “a little bit of movement and that’s good,” Rubio said, adding that conversations were ongoing. 

Rubio spoke following a meeting with his NATO counterparts in Sweden.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to carry out an extensive military operation against Iran should negotiations not bear fruit.

Fighting in the war, which began with US-Israeli strikes at the end of February, halted in April as part of a ceasefire agreement while talks for a lasting peace continue. 

Ten European countries brought forward a proposal for the European Commission to ban trade with illegal Israeli settlements, Irish Foreign Minister Helen McEntee said on her X account.

“Europe cannot continue to defend a rules-based international order whilepermitting trade with illegal settlements,” McEntee said, adding that the Israeli settlements are a breach of international law.

“Europe’s trade policy must be consistent with its legal and moral obligations,” the Irish minister wrote.

One European country that has already announced a ban on goods from Israeli West Bank settlements is the Netherlands.

Dutch Foreign Trade Minister Sjoerd Sjoerdsma took to his X account on Friday to say that the country “does not wish to contribute to the maintenance of that unlawful situation.”

The leaders of Germany, Britain, Italy and France called on the Israeli government to stop its expansion of settlements, while also ensuring accountability for settler violence.

“Over the past few months, the situation in the West Bank has deteriorated significantly,” the four countries said in a statement, “Settler violence is at unprecedented levels. The policies and practices of the Israeli government, including a further entrenchment of Israeli control, are undermining stability and prospects for a two-state solution.

Parts of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government are known to have contacts with extreme settlers, and the government has repeatedly emphasized its intention to continue expanding Jewish settlements in the illegally occupied West Bank. 

Several Israeli ministers have openly said the newly founded settlements are meant to prevent the possible establishment of a Palestinian state.

The European statement said, “International law is clear: Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal.”

The countries concluded their statement reaffirming their “unwavering commitment to a comprehensive, just and lasting peace based on a negotiated two-state solution in accordance with relevant UN Security Council resolutions where two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, live side by side in peace and security within secure and recognised borders.”

The past 24 hours saw 35 ships traveling through the Strait of Hormuz, Iran has said.

The vessels’ passing was made possible by their coordination with the IranianRevolutionary Guard Corps, according to the country’s state broadcaster. 

Data provider Kpler only confirmed 10 passages on Wednesday, an increase from four the previous day.

Iran charges high fees for passage through the Strait, one of the world’s most important maritime routes for oil, resulting in condemnation by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

“There’s no country in the world that should accept this,” he said.

UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash said he believes that the chances of an agreement between the US and Iran to end the war between the two countries are “50-50.”

According to Gargash, any such agreement must address the root causes of instability in the region and avoid future conflict.

“My worry is that the Iranians have always over-negotiated,” Gargash said at the Globsec conference in Prague, adding Iran missed many opportunities to reach agreements over the years “because of a tendency to overestimate their cards.”

“I hope they don’t do that this time,” he added.

The US and Iran are currently negotiating a possible agreement to end the war between them, with Pakistan acting in a mediating role.

Iran hit the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf states over the course of the war with the United States and Israel, citing US bases hosted by the countries.

The Lebanese military said its troops are loyal to the state in the wake of the US sanctions on an army officer Washington accuses of sharing intelligence with Hezbollah, according to a statement cited by the AFP news agency.

Lebanon’s army said it “affirms that all officers and members of the military institution are performing their national duties with utmost professionalism, responsibility and discipline, in accordance with the decisions and directives issued by the army command.”

Lebanon’s soldiers are only loyal to the military institution, the army added.

Why did the US Treasury sanction a Lebanese army officer?

The United States Treasury imposed sanctions on Lebanese army officer Samir Hamadi on Thursday, alongside security official Khattar Nasser Eldin, accusing them of sharing information with Hezbollah.

This was the first time Lebanese officers were sanctioned by the United States.

While Lebanon is formally at war with Israel, the Lebanese government has sought to distance itself from the recent fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam banned Hezbollah — which also has a political wing present in Lebanese parliament — from carrying out military and security activities in March.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Washington’s decision to shift troops in Europe was not aimed at punishing its European allies for their lack of support for Washington’s war in Iran.

“The US continues to have global commitments that it needs to meet in terms of our force deployment, and that constantly requires us to reexamine where we put troops,” Rubio told journalists ahead of a NATO meeting in Sweden.

“This is not a punitive thing, it’s just something that’s ongoing,”

However, the US top diplomat added that President Donald Trump’s “disappointment” with the country’s allies over their lack of involvement in the Iran war would need addressing.

“That will have to be addressed, that won’t be solved or addressed today,” Rubio said before his meeting with his NATO counterparts.

Click here for more of our coverage on the NATO meeting in Sweden on Friday.

French Finance Minister Roland Lescure said governments could not yet decide on releasing more strategic oil reserves to ease disruption from the Iran war because the duration and intensity of the conflict remain unclear.

In an interview with the Financial Times published on Friday, Lescure said a second coordinated release of reserves was not discussed during this week’s G7 finance ministers’ meeting in Paris.

He said oil stockpiles are finite and any decision on further releases would depend on clearer visibility over the conflict and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

Thirty-two member countries of the International Energy Agency released 400 million barrels of oil and refined fuel in March to help stabilize markets after the war disrupted supplies.

Acting US Navy Secretary Hung Cao said on Thursday that US arms sales to Taiwan were temporarily paused to ensure the US had sufficient munitions for military operations against Iran.

Speaking at a congressional hearing, Cao said foreign military sales would resume once the administration determined supplies were adequate.

“We’re just making sure we have everything, but then the foreign military sales will continue when the ⁠administration deems ​necessary,” he said.

However, Taiwan’s Presidential Office said on Friday it had received no indication that Washington planned to adjust a proposed arms package, reportedly worth up to $14 billion (€12.06 billion), according to Reuters news agency.

US President Donald Trump has not committed to approving the sale and said after talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping that he would decide on the matter “over the next fairly short period of time.”

The US is legally required to provide de facto self-governing Taiwan with defensive weapons, despite recognizing Beijing diplomatically and maintaining only informal ties to Taipei.

Iran condemned the United States’ decision to sanction the country’s designated ambassador to Beirut.

Iran’s foreign ministry said in a statement that the decision to impose sanctions on Mohammad Reza Raouf Sheibani is “another example of the lawlessness and disregard for the principles of international law and the UN Charter.”

The country also condemned the sanctioning of Lebanese parliament members of Iran-backed militia Hezbollahand officials of the Amal Movement, a political party that represents Shiite Muslim interests and has an alliance with Hezbollah’s political wing in Lebanese parliament.

This comes after Lebanon itself declared Shabani a persona non grata and ordered him to leave the country last March.

Republican leaders in the US House on Thursday delayed a planned vote on legislation seeking to force President Donald Trump to end the Iran war unless he obtains congressional approval, after struggling to secure enough votes to block the measure.

Two days ago, a similar measure advanced in the US Senate.

The resolution would require Trump to end military operations against Iran unless authorized by Congress.

The delay underscored growing unease within Trump’s Republican Party over the conflict, which began more than two months ago without congressional approval.

The House had blocked three previous war powers resolutions in close votes earlier this year, but ​the margins had become increasingly narrow. The last resolution failed on ​a tie ‌vote.

“We had the votes without question, ‌and they knew it,” Democratic Representative Gregory Meeks said after the vote was canceled.

The measure is now expected to return in June after a Memorial Day recess.

The White House has defended its military campaign as legal, arguing Trump has authority as commander-in-chief to order limited operations against imminent threats.

The Israeli military said on Friday it carried out an air strike in southern Lebanon that killed two armed individuals moving “in a suspicious manner” near the border.

“A short while ago, [Israeli military] surveillance identified two armed individuals moving in a suspicious manner hundreds of meters from Israeli territory, in southern Lebanon,” the Israeli military posted on Telegram.

“Following their identification and continuous monitoring by the [Israeli military], the armed individuals were struck and eliminated in an aerial strike.”

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported that separate overnight strikes in the Tyre district killed four people and wounded two medics at an Islamic Health Committee site.

Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group have continued exchanging fire despite a ceasefire that was extended last week following talks in Washington between Lebanese and Israeli representatives.