US-Iran talks appear stalled as Trump claims otherwise

We’ve moved coverage to a new live blog on 3rd June as heavy fighting ensues between the US and Iran in the Persian Gulf.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US would not let Iranians with ties to the ‌Islamic ⁠Revolutionary ⁠Guard Corps (IRGC) embed themselves in the country’s World Cup delegation.

The Iranian team qualified for the tournament, which begins next week, and will play ​matches ‌in the US. The team will have to be in Mexico for the tournament.

Rubio said Washington had “no problem” with the Iranian soccer ​team and its support staff entering the country.

“What we’re not going to ⁠allow ​is for them to ​embed in their delegation a bunch of people ​that we ‌know have nothing to do with athletics and have ties ​to the ⁠IRGC or things of that nature, so we ⁠were ​going to watch that very closely,” Rubio said.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Israel and Lebanon could reach a peace agreement within days, but the militant group Hezbollah stands in the way.

“Israel and Lebanon can do a peace deal tomorrow,” Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

“Israel has no territorial claims in Lebanon. Hezbollah is the impediment. There is no Hezbollah without Iran,” he added.

The US, acting as a mediator, wanted the Israel-Lebanon talks to proceed independently of negotiations with Iran, something Tehran has resisted, Rubio said.

Israel on Tuesday vowed to continue targeting Hezbollah’s bastions in Beirut’s suburbs if the Iran-backed group continues to attack northern Israeli towns.

Donald Trump, in a post on his Truth Social platform, rejected reports that the US and Iran have stopped discussions due to Israeli offensive action in Lebanon. 

“Fake News Reports that the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the USA, stopped speaking a few days ago are false and erroneous,” Trump said.  

“The conversations between us have been going on continuously, including four days ago, three days ago, two days ago, one day ago, and today,” Trump added. 

“Where they lead; one never knows, but as I told Iran, ‘It’s time, one way or another, for your to make a Deal. You’ve been doing this for 47 years, and it cannot be allowed to go on any longer.”

Iran makes demands on Lebanon in talks with Trump team

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio told US senators that he is optimistic about the potential for a resumption in nuclear talks with Iran.

He told lawmakers that the Iranians have agreed to negotiate on nuclear points that they had not been willing to address in the past. He did not, however, offer an assessment on what those talks might produce.

“They have agreed to negotiate aspects of their nuclear program that just a month ago, just a year ago, they were refusing to even mention,” Rubio said, without elaborating, adding that it is “not a guarantee that ultimately it will lead to a deal that’s acceptable.”

Rubio noted that the negotiations have been made difficult by the instability of Iran’s leadership.

Senators quizzed Rubio on what incentives the US government was offering Iran in the negotiations, such as sanctions relief.

Rubio rejected the idea that sanctions relief would be given in exchange for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, adding that any sanctions relief was tied to Tehran relinquishing its nuclear program.

“Right now, everything that’s been discussed with them [Iran] is that … any sanctions relief is condition-based, which means it has to be in return for the reason why those sanctions were put in place ‌in the first place, which ⁠is ⁠their nuclear program,” Rubio said.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told a US congressional hearing that Iran’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei is alive and increasingly active.

Khamenei, the son of the late Ali Khamenei, succeeded his father after he was killed wave of US-Israeli strikes that launched the war on February 28.  

The 56-year-old was said to be severely wounded in the attacks and has not been seen in public, or heard from directly, since he was named supreme leader. Iran has since released several statements attributed to Khamenei, which have been read out loud by state television anchors. 

“I would imagine, given what’s happened to multiple leaders in that system, being very public is probably not something that’s recommended for them internally,” Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. 

“I think there are indications out there that he is increasingly engaging at some level,” Rubio said. 

Shipping company MSC confirmed that one of its container vessels was struck by two projectiles in the port of Um-Qasr, Iraq.

The Geneva-based company reported that all crew members were unharmed and that the vessel had been secured.

In a statement, MSC said it “is a neutral commercial carrier with no affiliation to the United States or Israel.”

British maritime security agency UKMTO said that a vessel was 40 nautical miles off the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr when an explosion occurred on Monday.

Iranian media reported that the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) targeted the MSC Sariska V in a “retaliatory operation.”

The Iranian state-run Tasnim news agency said  the strike was in response to the US military targeting the Iranian Lianstar vessel in the Sea of Oman.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) on Sunday said the Gambia-flagged vessel was hit with a Hellfire missile after the crew failed to comply with warnings and violated a US blockade.

Talks between the US and Iran have reportedly stopped, following a lack of resolution in recent talks and the ongoing conflict in Lebanon, according to Iranian regime-affiliated news agencies, Fars and Tasnim.

The agencies reported that a regional official involved in the mediation, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the talks, said Iran has not communicated with the US at all on Tuesday after demanding a ceasefire in Lebanon in exchange for negotiations to continue.

On Monday evening, Iran’s chief negotiator and speaker of the Iranian parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, had posted on X that if Israeli aggression against Lebanon continued, there would be “direct confrontation with the enemy.”

US President Donald Trump has not confirmed the halt in talks, saying instead on his Truth Social platform that talks with Tehran were continuing at a “rapid pace.”

Iran-backed Lebanese militia Hezbollah attacked Israel after the war on Iran was launched in late February. Israel has responded with bombing Hezbollah strongholds in Beirut and has deployed troops into what it calls a “security zone” in southern Lebanon. 

On Monday, Trump said he spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on dialing down Israeli operations in Lebanon, including a claim that no troops would be “going to Beirut.”

On Tuesday,  Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Netanyahu had told Trump that Israel will attack Beirut’s southern suburbs if Hezbollah continues targeting northern Israel.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called for Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group to de-escalate current hostilities and move towards dialogue.

“The German government views the recent escalation of violence in the south of the country with great concern,” Merz said after meeting with Hungary’s new Prime Minister Peter Magyar in Berlin.

“Hezbollah must immediately stop attacking the people of Israel, and to lay down its arms,” Merz said.

Germany has also urged Israel to observe the ceasefire agreed upon in April.

“We encourage Israel and Lebanon to continue on the path of direct talks they have embarked upon,” Merz said.

The situation in Lebanon has become a key sticking point in the talks to end the US war against Iran with Tehran demanding a permanent ceasefire in Lebanon as part of any final agreement.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the country’s military would strike Hezbollah targets if Israeli towns continued to be attacked, a move he reportedly said was backed by the United States.

“The prime minister and I led a coordinated move together with the IDF to establish a new equation… If Israeli towns continue to be attacked, we will evacuate and strike the Shiite Dahiyeh quarter in Beirut, Hezbollah’s stronghold,” Katz said at a conference, a Defense Ministry statement said.

Washington was also reportedly backing any potential strikes, the AFP news agency cited the statement as saying.

“The United States endorsed this principle and conveyed it to the Lebanese government and all relevant actors… either the fire on Israeli communities stops, or — if fire continues — we will strike in Dahiyeh. This equation will be upheld.”

The Israel Defense Forces issued warnings for residents of the southern Lebanese city of Nabatiyeh to leave ahead of possible strikes in the area.

“In light of the Hezbollah terrorist organisation’s violation of the ceasefire agreement, the IDF is compelled to act against it with force,” IDF spokesman Avichay Adraee posted on X.

“For your safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and move north of the Zahrani River,” Avichay wrote.

On Monday, evacuation warnings were sent out to the Dahiya area in Beirut, saying Israeli forces would attack Hezbollah targets after rockets were launched toward Israeli cities and towns.

That was among various other evacuation warnings also issued on Monday.

A senior Iranian military officer called the resumption of fighting with the United States inevitable as negotiations between Tehran and Washington appeared to falter.

The comments were made by Mohammad Jafar Assadi, deputy head of Iran’s central military command, Khatam al-Anbiya.

“The United States demands our total surrender, and the Iranian nation will never surrender,” Assadi said.

“Without surrender, war is inevitable,” he added.

On June 1 Iran announced the executions of two more men convicted over their alleged role in anti-government unrest. Their deaths come amid a broad clampdown that has accelerated since the outbreak of war.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said there could be no justification for Israeli troops to remain deep inside Lebanon.

The statement comes after Israel’s military launched its deepest incursion into Lebanon in 20 years.

“Nothing can justify the continuation of military operations and Israel’s prolonged occupation deep inside Lebanese territory,” Barrot told France TV.

On Sunday, Israeli forces seized the Beaufort castle, attaining a strong position in southern Lebanon.

The fortification, also known as Qalaat al-Chakif, was previously used by Israel as a base during their previous occupation of southern Lebanon that ended in 2000.

A ceasefire in Lebanon is a major sticking point for Tehran for there to be any peace agreement with Washington.

Hezbollah’s military wing is classified as a terrorist organization by the US, Germany and many other countries. It receives backing from Iran.

• Late on Monday, US President Donald Trump said Israel and Hezbollah indirectly agreed “all shooting will stop”
• Earlier, Iran said it was suspending talks with the US because of Israel’s continued strikes in Lebanon
• Trump said on social media that Israeli forces would not be heading to Beirut and “have already been turned back”
• The US president said he spoke, through representatives, with Hezbollah and that they had agreed not to attack
• However, overnight there were continued reports of more hostilities
• Israel’s military said air defenses intercepted two projectiles that crossed from Lebanon into northern Israel
• Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that Israel had launched fresh strikes in southern Lebanon on Tuesday