Iran latest: Trump saysTehran ‘in state of collapse’ and want Strait of Hormuz open – The Independent
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Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump’s bottom line demands remain the same
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Donald Trump “doesn’t love” a plan offered by the Iranian regime to stop the war and open the Strait of Hormuz while delaying nuclear negotiations.
“He doesn’t love the proposal,” a US official said on Monday, explaining that the President wants a peace plan to address Iran’s nuclear programme.
Earlier on Monday, Trump met with his national security team to discuss the proposal.
The White House confirmed that no decision had yet been made, but multiple US media reports suggested Trump was unhappy with the proposal to decouple the conflict from Iran‘s nuclear programme and leave that issue to be discussed at a later date.
“The president’s red lines with respect to Iran have been made very clear, not just to the American public, but to them as well,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
Germany’s chancellor Friedrich Merz said the Iranian regime appeared to have the upper hand in the peace talks process, which has stalled after a summit hosted by Pakistan broke down.
“An entire nation is being humiliated by the Iranian leadership, especially by these so-called Revolutionary Guards. And so I hope that this ends as quickly as possible,” he said.
Israel’s military issued an urgent warning on Tuesday to residents in more than a dozen villages and towns in southern Lebanon, urging them to evacuate northward immediately and signalling an imminent attack.
The warning said the action was necessary due to the Hezbollah militia’s violation of a ceasefire agreement with Israel.
We’ll bring you more as it comes in.
Donald Trump met with his national security team on Monday to review a new Iranian proposal to end the war, the White House said.
The proposal reportedly includes reopening the Strait of Hormuz and delaying discussions on Iran’s nuclear programme, while Trump’s core demand, that Iran must never obtain nuclear weapons, remains unchanged.
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said: “What I will reiterate is that the president’s red lines with respect to Iran have been made very, very clear, not just to the American public, but also to them as well.
“I wouldn’t say they’re considering it. I would just say that there was a discussion this morning that I don’t want to get ahead of, and you’ll hear directly from the president, I’m sure, on this topic.”
Iran has made clear it needs “credible guarantees” against further US-Israeli attacks before it can ensure security in the Gulf, Tehran’s envoy to the UN has said.
Amir Saeid Iravani told a security council session: “Lasting stability and security in the Persian Gulf and the wider region can only be achieved through a durable and permanent cessation of aggression against Iran supplemented by credible guarantees of non-recurrence and full respect for the legitimate sovereign rights and interests of Iran.”
It follows a recent round of diplomacy by Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, who visited Pakistani and Omani mediators before travelling to Moscow to meet with the Russian president.
“The US approaches caused the previous round of negotiations, despite progress, to fail to reach its goals because of the excessive demands,” Mr Araghchi told reporters in St Petersburg on Monday.
Sir Keir Starmer said Britons should not panic over the economic impact of the Iran war but acknowledged people might have to change their shopping habits and holiday plans.
The prime minister, who will lead a meeting of the ministerial Iran crisis committee on Tuesday, said “at the moment” the government was confident about supply chains.
He said the UK was doing “everything we can” to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the vital oil and gas shipping route which has been effectively closed by Iran since the US-Israeli bombing campaign began.
Sir Keir said the French and the British would lead a “military mission” to provide reassurance to ships passing through the strait, although the initiative, driven by the prime minister and French president Emmanuel Macron, is not expected to begin until hostilities cease.
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Malnourished children in Somalia, already suffering the twin catastrophes of looming famine and radical cuts in foreign aid, are only suffering more after the US-Israeli war on Iran has led to shortages of lifesaving therapeutic foods.
The country was already suffering such shortages, with clinics now forced to turn away severely malnourished children and ration supplies.
Almost half a million children under 5 suffer from “severe acute malnutrition” or “wasting”, the most life-threatening form of hunger, and the delays are worsening the effect of the aid reductions.
Here are some images of the worsening food crisis in Somalia.
Iran has welcomed Russia’s support for diplomacy in the Middle East – but several of its offers have been rejected by the US.
Moscow has repeatedly offered to store Iran’s enriched uranium in its country in order to defuse tensions, a proposal that has been rejected out of hand by Washington.
Russia has offered to mediate to try to help restore calm to the Middle East since the US-Israeli strikes began on 28 February.
But they are unlikely to be called upon, with Pakistan enthusiastically leading mediating efforts as it stands,
Iran foreign minister Abbas Araghchi still praised the strength of ties between the Tehran and Moscow, after meeting with President Vladimir Putin on Monday, saying recent events had demonstrated the depth of their strategic partnership.
Donald Trump is reportedly unhappy with the latest Iranian proposal on resolving the two-month war, dampening hopes for a quick resolution.
Iran’s latest proposal would set aside discussion of Iran’s nuclear program until the war is ended and disputes over shipping from the Gulf are resolved.
But a US official briefed on Trump’s Monday meeting with advisors told Reuters that the president is unhappy with the proposal, as Washington wants nuclear issues to be addressed from the outset.
White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales said the US “will not negotiate through the press” and has “been clear about our red lines” as the Trump administration looks to end the war against Iran it began in February alongside Israel.
The IDF on Tuesday shared images of what it said were seizures of weapons from Hezbollah infrastructure sites.
One image shows what appears to be mines, mortars, helmets and bags strewn out across the floor, next to a picture of late Hezbollah secretary general Hassan Nasrallah.
Another image shows a haul of AK-style rifle magazines, helmets, bergens and binoculars.
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