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Donald Trump claims he told Tehran ‘It’s time’ for them to ‘make a Deal’
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US President Donald Trump has called suggestions the US and Iran are no longer holding peace talks “false and erroneous” and insisted the two countries have been speaking “continuously”.
In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, he added the US and Iran in fact spoke “four days ago, three days ago, two days ago, one day ago, and today”.
But he also said he had told Tehran, “It’s time, one way or another, for you to make a Deal. You’ve been doing this for 47 years, and it cannot be allowed to go on any longer!”
It comes after reports that Trump berated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a call aimed at ending fighting in Lebanon.
The US president is said to have told Netanyahu: “You’re f***ing crazy”, adding, “Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this”, according to one US official who summarised the call to Axios.
A senior official in Netanyahu’s office told Israeli outlet N12 News that reports on the call were “inaccurate.”
Lebanon confirmed a partial ceasefire had been agreed between Hezbollah and Israel, though there were already reports of violations on Tuesday as both sides traded new attacks.
American forces have disabled an unladen oil tanker during its blockade of Iranian ports.
The tanker “was attempting to sail toward an Iranian port on the Arabian Gulf” on Tuesday, according to the US Central Command.
“The ship’s crew ignored repeated warnings, failing to comply with directions from U.S. forces multiple times over a 24-hour period”, CENTCOM said in an X post.
A US aircraft “ultimately disabled the vessel by firing a Hellfire missile into the ship’s engine room, preventing the tanker from reaching Iran”, the post read.
American forces have disabled a total of six commercial vessels and redirected another 122 ships during their blockade, which started on April 13.
The United States announced sanctions on Iran’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, accusing it of enabling the Iranian government and blacklisted state institutions to circumvent Western sanctions.
The four entities include; Nobitex, Bitpin, Ramzinex and Wallex.
One of Iraq’s most powerful Iran-backed armed groups said Tuesday it would begin putting its weapons under government control, a major step in the new government’s effort to bring militias that have long operated on their own under state command.
Asaib Ahl al-Haq said it had formed a committee to oversee the move, including an inventory of its fighters, weapons and equipment, and to coordinate with the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The group cast the decision as a response to calls by Iraq’s top Shiite religious authority and the Iran-aligned Coordination Framework, the largest bloc in Parliament that dominates Iraqi politics.
As the United States grapples with a deadlock in negotiations with Iran, NBC News has revealed that over 2,000 US diplomats left the foreign service over the last year, according to figures by the American Foreign Services Association.
The officials were either laid off or forced to retire, according to the report.
Current and former state department officials say that the reduction in numbers is a critical disadvantage for the US at this time. The US diplomatic service was made up of 13,000 employees in 2024.
Israeli drone strikes on southern Lebanon on Tuesday killed 11 people, including a man along with his son and daughter, the state-run news agency said, a day after Donald Trump said Israel and the militant group Hezbollah agreed to dial back fighting.
Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, launched dozens of projectiles and drones toward Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon and Israeli cities and towns in recent days as Israel’s airstrikes killed dozens, including women and children, in Lebanon. Hezbollah did not carry out any attacks on Israel after Trump’s announcement.
Trump said Monday he’d spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and had communicated with Hezbollah through mediators, and that no troops would be “going to Beirut.” But the intensity of attacks between Israel and Hezbollah continued.
The mood inside the White House is reportedly being driven by a sense of burnout among staffers and officials who are trying to push President Donald Trump’s agenda forward while being “all-consumed” by the unpopular Iran war.
For more than three months, Trump’s war with Iran has dragged on, pushing gas prices and inflation higher for Americans – leading to negative media attention and general disapproval by the public. The administration has made several efforts to end the war, or at least open the Strait of Hormuz but so far no tangible deals have been implemented.
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A British couple jailed in Iran on spying allegations have lost an appeal against their convictions, their family and the UK government said Tuesday.
Craig and Lindsay Foreman were detained in January 2025 while on an around-the-world motorcycle trip. In February they were handed 10-year prison sentences for espionage, which they both deny.
Britain’s Foreign Office called the couple’s incarceration “unjustified and appalling.”
“We are disappointed by the appeal decision and will continue working to ensure that Craig and Lindsay are returned safely to the U.K.,” it said in a statement.
“Since their arrest last year, Britain’s ambassador to Tehran, diplomats and officials in London have been working to provide consular assistance. This includes the ambassador visiting them in prison and facilitating calls with their family back in the U.K.”
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