The latest developments in the Middle East war:
President Donald Trump said US negotiators will be in Pakistan Monday to resume talks on ending the war with Iran, as he again threatened to destroy its power plants and bridges if no deal is reached.
Trump did not say who would lead the delegation, but a White House official said it was Vice President JD Vance, who led the last set of talks that failed to reach an accord.
Trump said in a social media post he was offering Iran “a reasonable deal” but if Tehran refuses, “the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran. NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!”
Iran has yet to say whether it will take part in a new round of talks, with the IRNA state news agency saying “there is no clear prospect of fruitful negotiations”.
The Fars and Tasnim news agencies, quoting anonymous sources, said Tehran had yet to decide whether it would participate and that “the overall atmosphere cannot be assessed as very positive”, with Fars citing one source as saying the lifting of a US blockade on Iranian ports was a precondition for talks.
French President Emmanuel Macron will on Tuesday meet with Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam in Paris, his office announced, a day after a French peacekeeper was killed in Lebanon and amid a fragile 10-day truce between Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz said his military will use “full force” in Lebanon -- even during the ongoing ceasefire -- should Israeli troops face any threat from Hezbollah.
Lebanon’s military said meanwhile it has reopened a road and bridge between the city of Nabatieh and Khardali that was damaged by Israeli strikes in the south.
Iran will resume international flights on Monday from Mashhad airport in the country’s northeast, its civil aviation authority said.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Sunday he was “optimistic” that a two-week ceasefire between Iran and the United States that expires on Wednesday, would be extended, allowing more time for talks between the sides.
Israel’s military announced a second soldier died during combat in southern Lebanon, where fighting has not stopped despite a temporary ceasefire that started Friday.
The Israeli army death toll in the six-week war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon is now 15, according to an AFP tally based on military figures.
The strategic Strait of Hormuz remained closed on Sunday, a day after Iran’s central military command announced a new closure in response to a US blockade of Iranian ports.
On Friday, Iran had declared the strait -- where around a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas usually transits -- open after the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire announcement.
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