USA and Iran announced that they launched attacks against each other during the night from Sunday to Monday, delivering another blow to the existing ceasefire, while negotiations to end the war remain deadlocked.
Reports in US media over the weekend citing new US demands on Tehran dampened hopes for an imminent agreement, hopes that had been fueled by US President Donald Trump himself.
As Israel intensifies its aggressive military campaign in Lebanon, the US military announced that it carried out another wave of 'defensive' strikes in southern Iran on Saturday and Sunday, the third such strikes in less than a week.
These US bombings targeted Iranian radar control systems and drones in the city of Goruk and on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on Sunday night in a post on X.
The strikes were in response to 'aggressive Iranian actions that included the downing of a US MQ-1 drone operating over international waters,' CENTCOM said.
Shortly after this announcement by the US military, Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they launched an attack targeting a base used by the US military for attacks on Iranian territory.
The location of the base was not specified in the Guards' statement, which was carried by state media.
Kuwait's military, for its part, announced in the morning that it was facing an attack with drones and missiles, and sirens sounded across the country.
Washington and Tehran had already exchanged accusations on Thursday of violating the ceasefire – in effect since April 8 – after US strikes in southern Iran and an attack in Kuwait.
The war was sparked on February 28 by an Israeli-US attack on Iran, while Tehran and Washington were in negotiations over the Islamic Republic's nuclear program.
The war, which has left thousands dead, has sent shockwaves through the global economy, sending oil prices soaring.
While the US and Iran seemed in recent days to be approaching an agreement, the New York Times reported over the weekend that Trump had hardened the terms of his proposal and sent a new version of the text to Tehran. According to the Axios website, Trump is seeking greater toughness in Washington's stance, mainly on the issue of Tehran's nuclear program.
CBS News reported last night that the new US proposal includes a 60-day extension of the ceasefire with clauses providing for the opening of the Strait of Hormuz and a framework for resuming nuclear negotiations.
"We will not approve any agreement unless we are certain that the rights of the Iranian people are fully guaranteed," Tehran's lead negotiator Mohammad Javad Ghalibaf warned yesterday.
Iran, which asserts its right to maintain a nuclear program for non-nuclear purposes, repeatedly denies that it seeks to acquire nuclear weapons, despite suspicions expressed by the US and many other countries. It intends to address this issue at a later stage if an agreement is reached with Washington, and considers the lifting of US sanctions and the release of Iran's frozen assets as fundamental rights that must be guaranteed in any agreement concluded with the US.
Trump insisted yesterday in a post on Truth Social that the draft agreement 'states very clearly that Iran will not have nuclear weapons' and that 'under very strict terms'.
Tehran also insists that any agreement includes an end to hostilities in Lebanon, where Israel continues with the declared aim of 'eliminating' the pro-Iranian Shiite armed group Hezbollah.
On this war front, the Israeli military continues to advance in southern Lebanon, where it launches new military attacks daily, and Hezbollah continues its attacks, especially in northern Israel, despite the ceasefire theoretically in effect since April 17.
The Israeli military announced yesterday the capture of the medieval Beaufort Castle, a strategically important fortress that offers control over southern Lebanon and northern Israel. It is the first time Israeli forces have secured control of the castle, built in the 12th century by the Crusaders, since their withdrawal from southern Lebanon in May 2000 after an 18-year occupation.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio communicated in the past 48 hours with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an effort to advance a new ceasefire plan, according to a journalist from the Axios website citing a senior US official. As a first step, the US has proposed that Hezbollah stop its attacks on Israeli territory and that Israel suspend strikes in the Beirut area.
The US official said that President Aoun appeared willing to advance the proposal, but Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri made clear that Israel must first stop its attacks.
In the context of these developments, the UN Security Council will meet late Monday afternoon to discuss the situation in Lebanon, following a request submitted by France, diplomatic sources told AFP.
Source: APE-MPE
