Live Updates: Trump says "Clock is Ticking" for Iran as shaky ceasefire continues

An Israeli missile strike on an apartment in eastern Lebanon killed an Islamic Jihad commander Wael Abdel Halim and his 17-year-old daughter, Lebanese state media said Sunday.

Emergency workers were searching the rubble for survivors of the blast on the outskirts of the city of Baalbek, the National News Agency reported.

Earlier, the Lebanese health ministry said Israeli strikes on towns in southern Lebanon killed five people, including two children, and left at least 15 people wounded.

Israeli attacks since the start of the war have killed more than 2,900 people in Lebanon, including more than 400 since the truce began on April 17, according to Lebanese authorities. 

CBS/AFP

Iran put to death over 2,150 people last year, a "staggering" increase that pushed recorded worldwide executions to their highest level since 1981, Amnesty International said Monday.

Amnesty said it had confirmed the executions of at least 2,707 people globally in 2025. Among them, 2,159 were in Iran, a figure more than double that of 2024, Amnesty said.

But the U.K.-based rights group said that, as in previous years, its total "does not include the thousands of executions" it believed were carried out in China, the world's most prolific user of the death penalty, due to "the state secrecy" over data.

Amnesty said the figure of at least 2,707 people executed in 2025 -- including in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, Yemen, Singapore and the United States -- represented an increase of more than two-thirds over the previous year's total.

"This trend was strongest in countries where the authorities have tightened their grip on power by restricting civic space, silencing dissent and displaying disregard for protections established under international human rights law and standards," it added.

In particular, the "staggering increase in recorded executions in Iran" came as authorities "intensified their use of the death penalty as a tool of political repression and control," in particular after the June 2025 war with Israel.

Amnesty and other rights groups have noted that Iran is stepping up its use of the death penalty again in 2026 following January anti-regime protests and the war against Israel and the United States, with executions on charges linked to the protests and membership of banned groups.

Israeli strikes killed five people including two children in southern Lebanon on Sunday, the Lebanese health ministry said, as Hezbollah called U.S.-brokered talks between the two countries a "dead end."

The Lebanese health ministry published a "preliminary toll" for Israel's strikes on Sunday, with three people killed in the town of Tayr Felsay, including a child, and two killed in the town of Tayr Debba, including another child.

It said 11 people were wounded in those strikes and four more were wounded in strikes in two other southern towns.

The latest exchanges of fire came after envoys from Israel and Lebanon held a third round of negotiations in Washington and agreed to extend the ceasefire, talks that Iran-backed Hezbollah has repeatedly denounced.

"The direct negotiations that the authorities in Lebanon have conducted with the Israeli enemy have ... led them down a dead-end path that will result in nothing but one concession after another," Hezbollah lawmaker Hussein Hajj Hassan said on Sunday.

President Trump threatened Iran again Sunday as the shaky ceasefire between the two countries continues. 

"For Iran, the Clock is Ticking, and they better get moving, FAST, or there won't be anything left of them. TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!" Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social. 

Screenshots of the post were also shared by the official White House X account. 

Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said Friday that Tehran "cannot trust the Americans at all" and that they are "trying to maintain" the "shaky" ceasefire "to give diplomacy a chance." He described the lack of trust in the U.S. as "the main obstacle to any diplomatic effort." 

"Every day brings a different message, sometimes even two different messages in a single day, which deepens mistrust," Aragachi said while speaking at a summit in New Delhi. 

Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that despite the war in Iran, internal controls in the country "seem very much intact," making it unlikely that a civilian uprising will occur in the near future. 

Intense protests related to economic issues broke out in Iran in early 2026, but were harshly quelled. President Trump said tens of thousands of people were killed by the regime. Alleged leaders of those protests have been imprisoned or executed. While Mr. Trump called on the Iranian population to rise up and overthrow its leaders in the early days of Operation Epic Fury, no such efforts have emerged. 

"You haven't seen any demonstrations, or very few demonstrations, in the street. People are cowed, they're afraid, and right now they're concerned with how they can eat and live under the current circumstances," Gates said on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan." 

In an interview that taped Friday and aired Sunday, Gates said that it is possible an uprising will occur after the war ends, but said that protests likely won't lead to regime change. 

"What you generally see in regimes like this is not so much a change of regime from the streets, but that the regime itself begins to fracture, and that you have people within the regime who want to take a different tack, and so you have an internal fight for control," Gates said. 

While diplomatic and military efforts in Iran and the Strait of Hormuz seem to be at a stalemate, the United States can't "walk away" from the conflict, former U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Sunday. 

"I don't think he can walk away," Gates said on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," referring to President Trump. "And no, I don't think the Israelis can settle it. As powerful as they are, they don't have the kind of power the United States has." 

In an interview that was taped Friday and aired Sunday, Gates said that while the Trump administration's justifications for the war have shifted, there are a few things "that have been consistent from the very beginning." One main objective, of eliminating Iran's nuclear program, has not been fully achieved, but U.S. and Israeli attacks have "dramatically damaged and set back" the country's efforts to acquire a nuclear weapon, Gates said.

"I don't think that the nuclear program in Iran poses an imminent threat. After all, we bombed it twice," said Gates, who served under former presidents Bush and Obama. Nuclear material has been buried, he said, and the centrifuges that would be needed to enrich it have been "mostly destroyed." 

Gates also said that scientists who would have worked on these nuclear projects have been killed. Still, Gates said that likely the only way to completely "bring an end to" Iran's nuclear aspirations "is through a negotiation." 

Other stated goals, like eliminating Iran's military capabilities and its ability to support militant groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, have been more successful, Gates said. Still, the Trump administration had "some unrealistic expectations" for when the war might end, Gates said. 

"I think it would be hard to say the war is over, I think from either the standpoint of the United States or Israel at this point," Gates said. 

The Israel Defense Forces said that overnight Sunday, several soldiers were injured after an explosive device detonated in Southern Lebanon. 

One soldier was severely injured, and an officer was moderately injured, the IDF said. Another officer and soldier were "lightly injured." 

The IDF did not share further details about the incident. Israel said yesterday that it had struck about 100 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon since Friday, despite a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel. Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed anti-Israel militant group that is not part of the Lebanese government, is not technically taking part in the ceasefire talks. 

The IDF said Hezbollah had been launching "hostile aircraft, mortar shells, and explosive drones" during the same time period. Hezbollah has released videos of such attacks in recent weeks.

A meeting between the Iranian federation and FIFA officials ahead of the World Cup was "excellent" and "constructive" according to Mattias Grafstrom, the soccer league's secretary general. 

The meeting was held at the headquarters of the Turkish Football Federation in Istanbul to ensure Iran's participation in the 2026 World Cup, which will be played in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. 

The Iranians are scheduled to play all three of their group matches in the U.S., despite the war in the Middle East. Mehdi Taj, the president of the Iranian Football Federation, said Thursday that visas have not yet been issued for Iran's team. 

"I think we're working closely together and looking very much forward to welcoming them to the World Cup," Grafstrom said, adding that the organizations "had the opportunity to discuss some of the operational matters, like we do with every member association." 

Taj also called the meeting "positive and constructive," and said the two organizations "discussed our concerns and expressed our joint commitment" to the tournament.  

The Iranian team will be in Turkey ahead of the World Cup for training and some friendly matches before heading to the United States for the tournament. They will be based in Tucson, Arizona during the World Cup. They will first play against New Zealand in Los Angeles, followed by a match against Belgium in the same city and a game against Egypt in Seattle.  

A drone strike targeted the United Arab Emirates' Barakah nuclear power plant Sunday, setting an electrical generator ablaze on its perimeter and again straining the shaky ceasefire in the Iran war.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which caused no radiological release nor injuries, authorities in the UAE's capital, Abu Dhabi, said. However, suspicion immediately fell on Iran, which has been increasingly threatening the UAE over recent days as the country hosted Israeli Iron Dome missile defenses and troops during the war.

The UAE's nuclear regulator said the fire didn't impact the plant safety. "All units are operating as normal," the organization wrote on X.

The UAE statement didn't blame any party for the attack. The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, said on social media that it was "following the situation closely."

The $20 billion Barakah nuclear power plant was built by the UAE with the help of South Korea and went online in 2020. It's the first and only nuclear power plant on the Arabian Peninsula and can provide a quarter of all the energy needs in the UAE. It's also the first commercial nuclear power plant in the Arab world.

Israel's military said Saturday that one of its soldiers died in combat in southern Lebanon, bringing its losses to 21 personnel since the war with the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah began in early March.

Capt. Maoz Israel Recanati, age 24, "fell during combat in southern Lebanon," the military said, without providing additional information.

Since the war began, 20 Israeli soldiers and one civilian contractor have been killed.    

Iran's World Cup squad will travel to Turkey on Monday for a training camp, friendlies and to complete visa applications before heading to the United States, head coach Amir Ghalenoei said on Saturday.

The Iranian players are expected to use their time in Turkey to complete the necessary procedures for obtaining visas.

"No visas have been issued yet," Mehdi Taj, the Iranian football federation head, told Iranian media on Thursday.

Taj is expected to hold talks with FIFA president Gianni Infantino as Tehran seeks assurances for its squad amid tensions increased by the ongoing war.

When the squad reaches the U.S., Iran will set up their base camp in Tucson, Arizona.

They are due to kick off the group stage of their World Cup campaign against New Zealand at SoFi Stadium south of Los Angeles on June 15, before facing Belgium in the same stadium, and then Egypt at Lumen Field in Seattle.

Read more here.

CBS/AFP

Iran's stock market will reopen on Tuesday, IRNA News Agency, a state media news agency, said.

Hamid Yari, Deputy Director of Supervision of Stock Exchanges and Issuers of the Securities and Exchange Organization, told IRNA that the stock market was closed at the beginning of the war with the U.S. and Israel to protect shareholders' assets and provide conditions for accurate information. 

He said the planning had been done to be ready to start trading in stocks and related instruments.

"With the reopening of the stock market, we will witness the completion of the activities of all parts of the capital market," Yari said. 

Despite a ceasefire, the Israeli army has struck approximately 100 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon beginning Friday, the Israel Defense Forces said.

Israel said Hezbollah launched "hostile aircraft, mortar shells, and explosive drones" near IDF soldiers in southern Lebanon in the past 24 hours. In response, Israel said it struck "observation posts, terror infrastructure, and a weapons storage facility" on Saturday.

The IDF also struck targets in Tyre, in southern Lebanon, on Friday, it said.

On Friday, the U.S. State Department announced Lebanon and Israel had agreed to extend their ceasefire for another 45 days. The two sides have been in a ceasefire since mid-April, but the Iranian-backed Hezbollah — an anti-Israel militant group that is not part of the Lebanese government — is not technically taking part directly in any of the talks. 

Hezbollah has released video of attacks on Israeli soldiers and army vehicles routinely throughout the last few weeks.

The USS Gerald R. Ford, the world's largest aircraft carrier, has returned home to Virginia after an 11-month deployment that saw it support the war in Iran and the capture of former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro. 

The warship and two accompanying destroyers docked at Naval Station Norfolk on Saturday morning with about 5,000 soldiers aboard. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was on hand for the arrival of the ships.

The Ford's 326 days at sea are the most for an aircraft carrier in the past 50 years and broke the record for the longest post-Vietnam War deployment, according to U.S. Naval Institute News, a news outlet run by the U.S. Naval Institute, a nonprofit organization. 

When the Ford first left Virginia's coast in June, it headed to the Mediterranean Sea. It was then rerouted to the Caribbean Sea in October as part of the largest naval buildup in the region in generations.

The carrier took part in the military operation in January to capture Maduro. Then it would see more battle, heading toward the Middle East as tensions with Iran escalated. The Ford participated in the opening days of the Iran war from the Mediterranean Sea before going through the Suez Canal and heading into the Red Sea in early March.

The death toll from the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hezbollah is closing in on 3,000 people, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health. 

On Saturday, the agency said 2,969 people have died and 9,112 others have been injured since the latest round of fighting between the two sides broke out on March 2.

Eighty-seven people have died since Tuesday, the health ministry said

While the two sides are technically in a ceasefire, it's largely been in name only. Israel has said it will continue to strike any targets posing a threat to its soldiers in southern Lebanon and Hezbollah has continued to publicly show off drone strikes on Israeli army targets.

Two alleged Hezbollah members were targeted in an Israeli air force strike on Friday after they fired a rocket toward Israeli soldiers, the Israel Defense Forces said on Saturday.

The ongoing U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has now turned back 78 ships either exiting or entering Iranian ports, the U.S. Central Command said on Saturday.

The U.S. had said in its most recent tally that 75 ships were redirected as of Friday, since the blockade began on April 13, meaning three more were turned back in the last 24 hours.

The blockade has been one of the main snags in the negotiations between the U.S. and Iran over a lasting ceasefire. President Trump has said the blockade will remain in place as a condition for further talks, while Iran says the blockade itself is a violation of the ceasefire.

Israel launched new airstrikes against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon on Saturday, a day after the two countries agreed to extend a truce following talks in Washington.

"The IDF has begun striking Hezbollah infrastructure sites in several areas in southern Lebanon," the Israeli military said.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported strikes on at least five villages in the south, preceded by an exodus of residents towards the southern city of Sidon and the capital Beirut. The Israeli military had earlier warned residents of nine villages in the Sidon and Nabatieh regions to evacuate ahead of the strikes.

The latest strikes come after envoys from Israel and Lebanon held negotiations in Washington following the first direct talks in decades last month between the two countries, which do not have diplomatic relations.

Iran-backed Hezbollah opposes the negotiations and has continued to claim attacks on northern Israel and against the Israeli military in southern Lebanon, part of which it has occupied, since the ceasefire took effect on April 17.

The head of the Iranian parliament's national security commission said Saturday that Iran has prepared a plan to "manage traffic" along a designated route in the Strait of Hormuz. 

"In this process, only commercial vessels and parties cooperating with Iran will benefit," Ebrahim Azizi said on social media. He said that "necessary fees" will be collected. 

The route will remain closed "to the operators of the so‑called 'freedom project,'" Azizi wrote, appearing to refer to the United States' operation in the Strait of Hormuz, which has been termed "Project Freedom." 

Lebanon's delegation at the Washington peace talks said Friday that the extension of a ceasefire with Israel and the establishment of a U.S.-facilitated security track paves the way for "lasting stability."

"The Lebanese delegation welcomes today's outcome," it said in a statement shared by the Lebanese presidency, adding that it provides "critical breathing space for our citizens."

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam also said Friday said his country has had enough "reckless" wars for foreign interests, calling for Arab and international support in Beirut's negotiations with Israel.

Speaking at an NGO dinner, Salam said that he hoped to "mobilize all Arab and international support to bolster our position in the negotiations" with Israel, shortly after the last round of talks ended in an extension to the truce.

President Trump told Fox News' Bret Baier he doesn't need help from China in resolving the Iran conflict, this after saying Chinese President Xi Jinping had offered assistance during the two leaders' summit in Beijing.

"He would like to help. If he wants to help, that's great, but we don't need help," Mr. Trump said. "You know the problem with help? When somebody helps you, they always want something on the other side. That's the way help works."

Mr. Trump told reporters Thursday that China offered to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial oil chokepoint that has been largely closed to shipping traffic since the U.S. launched its war with Iran. China gets much of its oil from the Middle East and is the world's largest buyer of Iranian oil, though China has been somewhat insulated from the crisis due to its massive petroleum reserves.

The U.S. president also told Fox News "we really had the confines of a deal" with Iran, but "every time they make a deal, the next day, it's like we didn't have that conversation."

"There's something wrong with them," Mr. Trump said. "Actually, they're crazy."

Iran and the U.S. have exchanged proposals for a longer-term deal between the two countries for months, but major gaps appear to remain, especially around the fate of Iran's nuclear program.

Two days of talks between Lebanon and Israel produced an extension of the current ceasefire by 45 days, according to Tommy Pigott, a spokesperson for the State Department.

Military delegations from the two sides will hold talks on security at the Pentagon on May 29, and the State Department will also "reconvene the political track of negotiations" on June 2 and 3, Pigott said.

"We hope these discussions will advance lasting peace between the two countries, full recognition of each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and establishing genuine security along their shared border," he wrote on X.

But there was no significant announcement coming from the extensive talks, which did not include the Lebanon-based group Hezbollah. Hezbollah has been conducting the attacks on Israeli forces, and the ceasefire that will have been in place for one month as of Saturday has been in name only. 

Both sides have continued small-scale attacks on each other daily, and Israel conducted a large strike in Beirut on May 7, targeting and killing an alleged Hezbollah leader. At least a dozen people were killed in Lebanon on Tuesday from Israeli strikes, according to Reuters. Hezbollah has continued to launch drone attacks on Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon on a daily basis and posted videos of many on their social media accounts.

An Iraqi national allegedly plotted to carry out terror attacks in the U.S., including at a Jewish institution in New York, federal prosecutors said Friday. 

Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi faces a host of charges, including conspiracy to provide material support to Iranian-backed terrorist organizations, including Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Kata'ib Hizballah, according to prosecutors. 

Al-Saadi allegedly attempted to recruit an undercover agent to participate in the attack, showing the agent photos and maps of the target, a prominent synagogue.

Read more here.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will be in attendance as the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group returns to Norfolk, Virginia, on Saturday from an 11-month deployment.

The strike group, led by the eponymous aircraft carrier, also includes the USS Bainbridge and USS Mahan. The Ford was on the longest deployment of any aircraft carrier since the Vietnam War.

The USS Gerald R. Ford left in June 2025 to take part in Operation Southern Spear, targeting drug trafficking in the Caribbean, and the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January. 

The group then moved on to the Middle East in February amid growing tensions with Iran and took part as a staging point for attacks on Iran as part of Operation Epic Fury. 

The ship also had to make a pit stop in Greece for repairs in March after a noncombat-related fire broke out on board. No one was injured.

The U.S. stock market on Friday is falling from its records and joining a worldwide drop for stocks, as higher oil prices send a shiver through the bond market. Stocks that had been caught up in the euphoria around AI technology led the way lower.

The S&P 500 fell 1.1% from its all-time high set the day before. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 518 points, or 1%, as of 12:04 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was down 1.4% from its own record.

Technology stocks tumbled in a sharp turnaround from their meteoric rises for much of the year. Nvidia, the stock that quickly became the face of the AI revolution, dropped 3.3% and was the heaviest weight on the S&P 500. It had come into the day with a gain of more than 26% for the year so far.

Applied Materials fell 0.7% even though it reported stronger profit growth for the latest quarter than analysts expected, thanks to the global build out of AI. The company, whose products help make chips and displays, came into the day with a gain of more than 70% for the year so far.

"To us, it looks like markets have pushed into overbought territory," said Brian Jacobsen, chief economic strategist at Annex Wealth Management. He said the strong corporate profits and durable U.S. economy that launched U.S. stocks to records remain intact, but "the path is unlikely to be smooth. Periods like this call for discipline more than hope."

The United Arab Emirates rejected "attempts to justify Iranian terrorist attacks" on Friday after Tehran accused the wealthy Gulf state of playing an active role in the Middle East war.

Minister of State Khalifa bin Shaheen Al Marar said the UAE rejected Iran's "attempts to justify Iranian terrorist attacks targeting the UAE" and other nations, a statement said.

Earlier on Friday, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi doubled down on Iran's repeated condemnation of the UAE for, he claimed, standing "alongside the United States and Israel during this war" by providing "airspace, territory, facilities and services to U.S. forces."

Araghchi added Tehran and Abu Dhabi should "see security in regional cooperation, not in dependence on forces from outside the region."

Pakistan has repatriated 11 of its nationals and 20 Iranians who were on "vessels seized in the high seas" by the U.S., according to Pakistan's foreign minister.

In a post on X, Ishaq Dar wrote the 31 were in "good health and high spirits" and had all reached Bangkok from Singapore and boarded a flight to Islamabad.

"Our Irani brothers will then be facilitated to return to their homeland," he added. 

He thanked the foreign ministers of Singapore and Iran as well as Secretary of State Marco Rubio "for close coordination in facilitating the smooth return" of the group.

He didn't specify the incidents in which the seafarers were detained, though the U.S. has seized two tankers in the Indian Ocean allegedly transporting Iranian oil — the Majestic X on April 23 and the Tifani on April 21. 

The United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Lebanon said on Friday that talks between Lebanon and Israel offer a "critical opportunity" to end the Israel-Hezbollah war.

"Diplomatic efforts now offer a critical opportunity to stop the violence," Imran Riza said in a statement, adding that he hoped "ongoing negotiations will pave the way toward a political solution."

"Airstrikes and demolitions continue daily, with an unacceptable toll on civilians and civilian infrastructure," he added. 

The talks come as a ceasefire, considered to still be in place despite hundreds of deaths in Israeli strikes, nears its end.

Lebanese and Israeli representatives last met on April 23 at the White House, where President Trump announced a three-week ceasefire extension and voiced optimism for a groundbreaking agreement between the countries, which have technically been at war for decades.

Mr. Trump at the time made the bold prediction that during the three-week extension he would welcome Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun to Washington for a historic first summit between the countries.

The summit did not happen, with Aoun saying a security deal and an end to Israeli attacks were needed before such a landmark meeting.

Hezbollah lawmaker Ali Ammar on Thursday reiterated his group's rejection of the direct talks, saying they amounted to "free concessions" to Israel.

The ceasefire, which began on April 17, lasts through Sunday.

Israeli attacks have killed at least 2,951 people since the start of the war on March 2, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry.

A second consecutive day of talks between Israel and Lebanon began on Friday morning, according to a State Department official.

The third round of talks between the countries, which started on Thursday in Washington, D.C., comes just days before their ceasefire is set to end. The ceasefire began on April 17 and lasts through Sunday.

A senior State Department official told CBS News that Thursday's talks were "productive" and "positive" and lasted from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for an "open and safe" Strait of Hormuz during a brief visit to the United Arab Emirates on Friday.

Modi, whose plane was guided in and out of UAE airspace by military jets, received an honor guard and met President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan before leaving for the Netherlands.

Disruptions to Gulf shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz have put oil and gas markets in a spin, raising pressure on energy importers such as India, which was forced to hike gas and diesel prices on Friday.

"Keeping Hormuz free, open and safe is our highest priority, and in this matter adherence to international laws is essential," Modi said, in footage released by the Indian Foreign Ministry.

The two sides agreed to explore increasing UAE giant ADNOC's oil storage in India to up to 30 million barrels, and storing crude at the UAE's Fujairah port as part of India's strategic reserve, an ADNOC statement said.

Iran "must not be allowed to have nuclear weapons" and must "come to the negotiating table now," German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Friday after a call with President Trump.

In a post on X, Merz said he had "a good phone call" with Mr. Trump on his return trip from China. 

"We agree: Iran must come to the negotiating table now. It must open the Strait of Hormuz," he said.

"Tehran must not be allowed to have nuclear weapons," Merz added.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday he was open to any support, including from China, to help resolve conflict in the Middle East.

"We appreciate any country who has the ability to help, particularly China," he told reporters in the Indian capital, where he attended a meeting of the BRICS bloc of nations.

"We have very good relations with China, we are strategic partners to each other, and we know that (the) Chinese have a good intention, so anything that can be done by them to help diplomacy would be welcomed by the Islamic Republic," he said.

Israel's military called on residents of five villages in southern Lebanon to immediately evacuate on Friday ahead of expected attacks against Hezbollah, despite a truce with Lebanon intended to halt fighting.

"In light of the terrorist Hezbollah's violation of the ceasefire agreement, the Defence Army is compelled to act against it forcefully," the military's Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee posted on X, listing five villages near the city of Tyre, on the south Lebanon coast.

"For your safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and stay away from the villages and towns by a distance of no less than 1,000 metres," he added.

The U.S. is in control of the Strait of Hormuz, President Trump said Friday, adding "We wiped out their armed forces, essentially."

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One after his summit with China's President Xi, Mr Trump said "We control the Strait [of Hormuz], and they've done no business… so we have ben doing very well on all fronts.

"We don't need favors," he added. "We wiped out their armed forces, essentially." 

"We may have to do a little cleanup work," he added. "Because we had a little month-long ceasefire, I guess you'd call it, but we have a blockade that's so effective, that's why we did the ceasefire."

Mr Trump added that his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping "feels strongly" that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon, "and he wants them to open up the strait."

The President also said ‌he felt OK about a suspension of Iran's nuclear program for 20 years, but only if there is a "real" commitment ⁠from Tehran.

Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said Friday that his country "cannot trust the Americans at all" and that they are "trying to maintain" the "shaky" ceasefire "to give diplomacy a chance."

Speaking at a press conference in New Delhi during the ongoing BRICS summit, Araghchi added that the Strait of Hormuz "is open, and all vessels can pass," except those that belong to "countries that are at war with us."

"We are now in a ceasefire, although it is very shaky," he said. "But we are trying to maintain it in order to give diplomacy a chance so that a negotiated, diplomatic solution can be found."

He described the lack of trust in the U.S. as "the main obstacle to any diplomatic effort." 

"We cannot trust the Americans at all," he said. "Everything must be precise and clearly defined before any agreement can be concluded."

"Every day brings a different message, sometimes even two different messages in a single day, which deepens mistrust."

Iranian troops will defend the country "until the last drop of blood," the head of its army has said.

In remarks carried by almost all state media, the Iranian army's commander-in-chief Major General Amir Hatami said, "With all our being, until the last drop of blood and God willing until the realization of complete victory," his troops would "continue our sacred mission of defending the territorial integrity" and "independence of the country."

"The issue of death has been resolved for our fighters," he added. "We fight for victory, but we also consider martyrdom a great blessing."

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi claims "Iran was the victor in this war" and says  the country must now be seen as capable of "confronting the world's greatest powers."

In a video posted to his Telegram channel Friday, Araghchi told state TV that "all countries now acknowledge that the Islamic Republic of Iran was the victor in this war."

"Iran was able to prevent its enemies from achieving their objectives and succeeded in imposing its will," he added.

"From now on, Iran must be viewed differently," he said, "as a power capable of confronting the world's greatest powers."

He also doubled down on his condemnation of the UAE for, he claimed, standing "alongside the United States and Israel during this war" … by providing "airspace, territory, facilities and services to U.S. forces."

Araghchi added that Tehran and Abu Dhabi should "see security in regional cooperation, not in dependence on forces from outside the region."

As his summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping was wrapping up Friday, President Trump told reporters the two leaders "feel very similar on Iran" and share a desire to bring the Iran war to an end.

Mr. Trump noted that both countries want the Strait of Hormuz — a key chokepoint that 20% of the world's oil usually travels through — to be reopened -- and both want to keep Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Mr. Trump told Fox News after he and Xi met Thursday that Xi said he's not going to give any military equipment to Iran, which the U.S. president called a "big statement." It remains to be seen if Xi follows through. Mr. Trump also told Fox News that Xi wants to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which has been effectively closed since the U.S.'s war with Iran began in late February. China is Iran's biggest oil customer.  

In an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity Thursday from Beijing, President Trump said that during their summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping assured him that China would not provide military equipment to Iran for its war in the Middle East.

Asked by Hannity how big of a discussion the two leaders had regarding China's support for Iran, Mr. Trump responded, "We discussed it. When you say support, they're [China] not fighting a war with us or anything."

According to Mr. Trump, Xi told him that he's "not going to give [Iran] military equipment. That's a big statement. He said that today. That's a big statement. He said that strongly."

Last month, CBS News reported that U.S. intelligence agencies had detected signs that China was weighing whether to provide the Iranian regime with advanced radar systems.

Mr. Trump disclosed that Xi also noted to him how much China depends on the oil and gas it imports from Iran.

"But at the same time, he said, you know, they buy a lot of their oil there, they would like to keep doing that," Mr. Trump said. "He'd like to see the Hormuz strait opened," adding that Xi "didn't like the fact that they're [Iran] charging tolls. I don't know if they are or not."

According to analysts at maritime intelligence company Lloyd's List, early in the war, Iran had been using Larak Island, which is located a few miles off Iran's coast, as a tolling stop for tankers.

Per the congressional U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, China purchases about 90% of the oil that Iran exports.

And according to analysis from Det Norske Veritas, an independent global assurance and risk management provider, prior to the Iran war, China imported 70% of its oil and gas, the majority of which came through the Persian Gulf.

President Trump said in an interview with Fox News that he's "not going to be much more patient" on a possible peace deal with Iran. 

"I'm not going to be much more patient," Mr. Trump told Fox News' Sean Hannity Thursday. "They should make a deal." 

After wrapping up their summit in Beijing, Mr. Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping "would like to see a deal made."

"He said, 'If I can be of any help at all, I would like to be of help.' Anybody that buys that much oil has obviously got some kind of relationship, but he'd like to see the Hormuz Strait open," Mr. Trump told Hannity. 

The head of U.S. forces in the Middle East told senators that the bombing campaign against Iran, named Operation Epic Fury, achieved all of its objectives to "significantly degrade" the country's military capabilities, even as Tehran continues to claim control of the Strait of Hormuz.

Admiral Brad Cooper of U.S. Central Command told the Senate Armed Services Committee that U.S. forces have destroyed more than 90% of Iran's inventory of 8,000 naval mines to prevent their deployment in the strait. But he acknowledged Iran still maintains some capabilities to threaten ships.

"The Iranian ability to stop commerce has been dramatically degraded through the straits, but their voice is very loud, and those threats are clearly heard by the merchant industry and the insurance industry," Cooper said Thursday.

Read more here.

President Trump said Thursday that Chinese President Xi Jinping would like to see a deal with Iran made, and a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and has offered to help.

"President Xi would like to see a deal made," Mr. Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity. "He would like to see a deal made. And he did offer, he said, 'If I can be of any help at all, I would like to be of help.'"

"Look, anybody that buys that much oil has obviously got some kind of relationship with them, but he said, 'I would love to be of help, if I can be of any help whatsoever.' He'd like to see the Hormuz Strait open," Mr. Trump said. "He said, 'If I can be of any help whatsoever, I would like to help.'"