'No agreement' yet reached with the US, but 'differences have narrowed,' according to Iranian source | LIVE

Iranian source says 'no agreement' has yet been reached with US, but that 'differences have narrowed'

A senior Iranian source told Reuters that “no agreement” has yet been reached with the United States. While noting that “differences have narrowed,” the source said that Iran’s uranium enrichment and its control over the Strait of Hormuz remain among the main sticking points.

Hezbollah claims attacks on Israeli positions in 11 locations in Lebanon

Hezbollah has claimed responsibility for a series of attacks carried out Wednesday and Thursday against Israeli forces in at least eleven villages in southern Lebanon, according to a set of statements released in the evening. The group said all the operations were conducted using explosive drones.

Hezbollah said it targeted an Israeli artillery position on Wednesday afternoon in Odaisseh (Marjayoun), as well as Israeli troop gatherings in Bint Jbeil, Rshaf (Bint Jbeil), Haddatha (Bint Jbeil), Bayyada, and Naqoura (Sour district).

It also said that on Thursday afternoon it struck Israeli troop concentrations in Naqoura, Tayr Harfa, and Dibil (Bint Jbeil district).

Israeli army targets Mansouri and Ain Baal in Sour district

The Israeli army struck Mansouri and Ain Baal in the Sour district, according to our correspondent in southern Lebanon.

In addition, rockets were fired toward Israeli positions in southern Lebanon, the correspondent reported.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards say 31 ships transited Strait of Hormuz in past 24 hours

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said 31 ships passed through the Strait of Hormuz over the past 24 hours, according to the Tasnim news agency.

The vessels reportedly crossed the waterway “under the coordination and protection of the Revolutionary Guards navy.” The IRGC navy said the group included oil tankers, container ships and other commercial vessels.

Agreement with Iran 'unfeasible' if Tehran introduces a toll system in the Strait of Hormuz, Rubio says

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that a diplomatic agreement between the United States and Iran would become impossible if Tehran introduced a toll system in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Reuters.

Tehran on Monday formalized the creation of the “Authority of the Persian Gulf Strait,” tasked with managing the waterway. The new Iranian body reportedly claimed a control zone extending into waters south of the Emirati port of Fujairah, which hosts oil infrastructure designed to bypass potential disruptions in the strait.

Rubio also said that talks with Iran had made “some progress” and that there were “some good signs,” according to Axios journalist Barak Ravid. “I don't want to be overly optimistic ... So, ⁠let's ⁠see what happens over the next few days,” he added.

US 'redirected' 94 ships, according to CENTCOM

The United States said 94 vessels have been “redirected” as part of the blockade of Iranian ports, according to a post on X by the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM). Four other ships were also “disabled.”

The Trump administration imposed a blockade of Iranian ports last month to pressure Tehran into accepting a deal aimed at ending the war.

Hezbollah MP says the state must halt direct negotiations with Israel or face a 'serious political impasse'

Hezbollah MP Hassan Ezzeddine said the Lebanese state must “suspend direct negotiations” with Israel until it complies with the cease-fire. He warned that continuing such talks would amount to “humiliation” and “submission” to Israeli conditions, according to remarks reported by the National News Agency (NNA).

He added that Lebanon should instead return to indirect negotiations and suspend direct contacts until Israel respects the cease-fire, warning that otherwise the government would place itself in a “serious political impasse” that serves Israeli interests and undermines Lebanon’s rights.

Putin discussed with Xi the idea of storing Iranian enriched uranium in Russia, Interfax reports

Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the Iran conflict with Chinese President Xi Jinping during his visit to China, the Kremlin said Thursday.

He raised the idea of transporting and storing Iran’s enriched uranium in Russia, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, according to Interfax, Reuters reported.

Lebanon’s finance minister estimates war cost at $20 billion

Finance Minister Yassine Jaber told Reuters that Lebanon’s economy is expected to contract by 7% to 10% this year due to the war between Israel and Hezbollah. He also said that the damage caused by the conflict in the country is estimated at $20 billion.

Khamenei says enriched uranium must remain in Iran, according to sources

Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has instructed that the country’s uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels should not be sent abroad, two senior Iranian sources told Reuters, hardening Tehran’s position on one of Washington’s key demands in peace talks.

“The Supreme Leader’s directive, and the consensus within the establishment, is that the stockpile of enriched uranium must not leave the country,” one of the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.

The sources added that senior Iranian officials believe transferring the material abroad would make the country more vulnerable to future U.S. and Israeli attacks.

Khamenei’s decision could frustrate U.S. President Donald Trump and complicate negotiations aimed at ending the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.

Israel bombards several villages in Sour and Nabatieh districts; one killed on the road linking Hosh to Bazourieh

Israeli artillery shelled the Hamra area between Yohmor and Zawtar Sharqieh (Nabatieh), according to our correspondent.

The earlier drone strike on the road between Hosh and Bazourieh killed one person.

Hezbollah targeted a group of Israeli soldiers and vehicles in Rshaf

Hezbollah said it targeted Israeli army vehicles and soldiers in the town of Rshaf, in the Bint Jbeil district, using a squadron of attack drones.

Two houses destroyed in Israeli strikes on Tibnin

The Israeli strike on Tibnin (Bint Jbeil) destroyed two houses in the town, according to our correspondent. (Credit: Muntasser Abdallah/L'Orient Today)

Health Ministry: Israeli attacks on Lebanon kill 3,089 and injure 9,397 since March 2

The Health Ministry reports that the cumulative toll of ongoing Israeli attacks on Lebanon, from March 2 to May 21 has reached 3,089 people killed and 9,397 others injured.

Israeli strikes target towns in Sour and Bint Jbeil districts

• An Israeli airstrike targeted Haniyeh, and another airstrike targeted Hosh (both located in Sour).
• An Israeli drone strike also targeted the road in Housh leading to Bazourieh (Sour).
• Several Israeli airstrikes targeted homes in the town of Yater (Bint Jbeil).
• An Israeli airstrike also targeted Mansouri (Sour).

Israeli airstrikes on Tibnin cause extensive damage to governmental hospital in the town

Israeli strikes causes extensive damage to Tibnin Hospital, particularly on the 3rd floor. (Photo shared by our correspondent Muntasser Abdallah)

Israeli airstrikes targeted Tibnin governmental hospital (Bint Jbeil), causing extensive damage, particularly on the third floor, our correspondent in the south reported.

This is not the first time Israel has targeted and caused damage to this hospital, having sustained damage from an Israeli strike earlier this week.

Deir Qanoun al-Nahr buries victims of Tuesday’s Israeli massacre

Credit: Kawant Haju/AFP

The village of Deir Qanoun al-Nahr (Sour) buried today the victims of Israel's massacre committed on Tuesday when an Israeli strike targeted a residential house and killed 14 people, including four children and three women.

The funeral procession set off from Jabal Amel Hospital in the city of Sour and was met in the village square by residents and relatives of the victims, in the presence of, notably, Amal Movement MP Ali Khreiss and the local imam, Sheikh Mojtaba Kassir, who led the funeral prayer, according to the state-run National News Agency (NNA). The victims were then buried in the village cemetery, amid the roar of warplanes and drones bellowing in the sky above, the agency reported.

The chairman of the village council, Ali Kassir, told our correspondent in southern Lebanon that the victims included 11 members of a single family from the village, as well as a Syrian couple, whose son was injured. This death toll from a single strike was one of the highest since the nominal April 17 "cease-fire" which has been all but disregarded by Israel from the moment it went into effect.

Israeli air strikes on the district of Sour; Hezbollah attacks Israeli soldiers near Deir Siryan

Israeli air strikes targeted Srifa and Mansouri (both located in the district of Sour), according to our correspondent in southern Lebanon.

For its part, Hezbollah said it had targeted an “Israeli army engineering unit in Khallet al-Raj," near Deir Siryan (Marjayoun) with a drone.

Iran ‘responds’ to proposal sent by United States

Tehran is "responding to a document sent by the United States," reported the Iranian news agency ISNA, after Washington sent a new proposal for an agreement yesterday. According to the agency, as quoted by Reuters, the ongoing visit by the head of the Pakistani army to Tehran aims to “narrow differences and help bring about an official announcement of an agreement.”

Iran's Hormuz authority claims control of waters south of UAE port

Iran's new body overseeing the Strait of Hormuz has said it has claimed areas extending to waters south of the United Arab Emirates' port of Fujairah, which hosts oil infrastructure designed to bypass the strategic waterway.

Traffic through Hormuz — a vital global shipping conduit — has come under Iranian control since the outbreak of war with Israel and the United States on Feb. 28.

Iran, which has effectively closed the strait since the war and is seeking to charge ships for passage, has insisted that vessels transiting the waterway must obtain permission from the Iranian armed forces.

In a post on X on Wednesday accompanied by a map, the Persian Gulf Strait Authority said it had outlined "the regulatory jurisdiction for the management" of the strait.

Read more here.

CNN reports Iran rebuilding military industrial base faster than expected, drone production already restarted

Iran has already begun restoring its military production capabilities, which were heavily targeted by the U.S.-Israeli war, and has notably resumed drone production, according to a report by CNN. This recovery is happening much faster than U.S. intelligence services had initially estimated, according to four sources interviewed by the media outlet.

This rapid rebuilding of military capabilities, which includes the replacement of missile sites, launchers and production capacity for key weapons systems destroyed during the conflict, "means that Iran remains a significant threat to regional allies should President Donald Trump restart the bombing campaign," according to the four sources familiar with the intelligence.

Read more here.

Hezbollah claims responsibility for 'large-scale night-time attack' against Israeli soldiers around Bint Jbeil

Hezbollah has claimed responsibility for a large-scale attack carried out overnight and this morning in the Bint Jbeil district, where its fighters have been fending off attempts to advance out of the “buffer zone” towards Haddatha for several days.

The group claimed to have carried out a “large-scale attack against all Israeli positions” in Dibil, Rshaf, and the vicinity of Haddatha, between midnight and 2 a.m., “using successive waves of heavy rockets and explosive drones." Also in the Bint Jbeil region, it claimed to have fired artillery shells at Israeli soldiers and vehicles in Qouzah, along the border.

Hezbollah also reported that it had struck Israeli soldiers along the Litani River, near Deir Siryan, with artillery and rocket fire. It was near this village that the Israeli army crossed the river in attempts to advance towards the Nabatieh region.

Israel strikes on district of Bint Jbeil

Israeli strikes have targeted the district of Bint Jbeil: an airstrike targeted Ghandourieh, whilst a drone strike targeted a scooter in Froun. Artillery fire was also reported in Kfar Dounin and Braasheet.

Israel fires stun grenade near farmers in Hanieh, southern Lebanon, where a fragile calm prevails

While no Israeli warplanes have been reported since last night, an Israeli army drone fired a stun grenade near farmers in Hanieh (Sour), though no casualties were reported, according to our correspondent in southern Lebanon.

US lifts sanctions on UN expert Francesca Albanese Wednesday

The United States on Wednesday removed sanctions on the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, following a preliminary court order last week on the grounds of protecting free speech.

According to the Treasury Department's website, it had removed a sanctions designation on Albanese that had blacklisted her globally, making it impossible for her to use major credit cards or carry out bank transactions, and putting at risk third parties doing business with her in the process.

Albanese, who is Italian, has been a relentless critic of Israel's treatment of the Palestinians, authoring numerous reports and touring the world to participate in conferences and speaking tours.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon last week found that the Trump administration had likely violated Albanese’s free speech rights by sanctioning her over criticism of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

Read more here.

Lebanon is 'in a precarious situation,' says Le Drian

Lebanon is “in a precarious situation,” said Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French President’s special envoy for Lebanon, whilst welcoming the ongoing talks which offer “a prospect” of a resolution to Israel's ongoing attacks on Lebanon.

“Today, Lebanon is in a precarious situation regarding its unity and integrity,” Drian told BFM TV/RMC, highlighting the division among “Lebanese communities regarding Hezbollah and regarding Israel.”

“Lebanon’s integrity is under threat because part of its territory is occupied by Israel and another part is being stirred up and driven by Hezbollah, which serves Iranian interests, and thus those of a foreign power,” he noted. He nevertheless welcomed the continuation of the truce, seeing it as “a 45-day window during which we will continue to discuss matters.”

Erdogan calls on Trump to take ‘measures to prevent the situation from deteriorating’ in Lebanon

In a telephone call on Wednesday evening, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, to "take measures to prevent the situation from deteriorating in Lebanon," where Israel has been completely disregarding, and with impunity, the cease-fire in place since it first went into effect on April 17.

Erdogan also welcomed the extended cease-fire between the United States and Iran, stating that the contentious issues between the two countries, foremost among them Iran’s nuclear program, “could be resolved,” according to the Turkish presidency. According to the presidential statement, the Turkish head of state “believes that a reasonable solution to the contentious issues is possible.”

Iran-US negotiations: Pakistani army chief expected in Tehran

Pakistan's army chief Asim Munir, who is mediating between the U.S. and Iran, is expected to arrive in Tehran later today, according to Iranian media, as part of efforts to reach a peace agreement.

Following the visit by the Pakistani Home Minister to Iran, Munir’s visit aims to “continue discussions with Iranian officials,” the ISNA news agency and other media outlets reported, without providing further details.

Victims of Israel's massacre in Deir Qanoun al-Nahr to be buried today

The victims of the massacre carried out by the Israeli army in Deir Qanoun al-Nahr (Sour), where 14 people were killed in a strike on a residential building on Tuesday, are to be buried today, according to our correspondent.

Given the lack of safety and security resulting from incessant Israeli attacks — mostly with no prior warning —, the funerals will take place in the presence of rescue teams only.

Hezbollah claims responsibility for new attack on Israeli troops in Haddatha

Hezbollah has claimed responsibility for several attacks carried out overnight against Israeli forces occupying southern Lebanon. It said it had struck soldiers and vehicles in Dibil and Rshaf (Bint Jbeil) with rockets at midnight, and ten minutes later, another patrol in Bayyada (Sour). At 12:30 a.m., Hezbollah said its fighters carried out a new attack on soldiers and vehicles in Dibil and the vicinity of Haddatha, using “a swarm of drones.”

On Wednesday, the group repeatedly claimed responsibility for attacks against Israeli “advance attempts” on Haddatha, a village not located within the “buffer zone” established and occupied by Israel in southern Lebanon.

For its part, Israeli, which had announced that seven of its soldiers had been wounded “in combat” in southern Lebanon, without specifying where, said on Thursday that one of the soldiers seriously wounded in a drone attack is a “photographer” from the army’s press office.

Night-time strikes on Bint Jbeil district in southern Lebanon

Overnight from Wednesday to Thursday, a series of Israeli strikes targeted several villages in the Bint Jbeil district, notably Sarbine, Yater, Froun, and Kfar Dounin, according to information from our correspondent in southern Lebanon.

Strikes also targeted Habboush, Wadi al-Kfour, and the area around Nmeirieh in the Nabatieh district.

Israel also targeted overnight Mayfadoun, Shoukin, Yohmor al-Shaqif, and Arnoun (Nabatieh) with artillery fire, areas where Israeli troops had attempted to advance earlier this week.

Another airstrike targeted Rihan (Jezzine). In the Sour region, an Israeli airstrike targeted Mansouri and a drone fired a missile at the outskirts of Toura and Jennata, though no casualties were reported.

Tehran reviewing latest US response as Trump suggests he can wait

Iran said on Thursday it was reviewing Washington's latest position on ending the war after U.S. President Donald Trump suggested he was prepared to wait a few days to "get the right answers" from Tehran, but warned of renewed attacks if it did not agree to a deal.

"We have received U.S. views and are reviewing them," Iranian state-run agency Nour News quoted Foreign Ministry spokesperson ​Esmaeil Baghaei as saying.

Pakistan, which hosted peace talks last month and is acting as the conduit for messages between the two sides, continues to mediate between Tehran and Washington, he added, with several rounds of communication having taken place. Pakistan's interior minister was in Tehran on Wednesday.

Read more here.

Hello and welcome to our live news blog

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of events taking place in Lebanon and across the region.

In Lebanon, Israel continues its deadly attacks across the South unabated, unfazed by the "cease-fire" in place since April 17, and extended last week by 45 days.

The cease-fire in Iran also hangs at a precarious balance, with Iran currently reviewing the U.S.'s latest proposal to bring the war to a close.

To catch up on yesterday's live blog, click here.

To read our Morning Brief, for everything you need to know this Thursday, click here.