The US Treasury Secretary announced that US had seized $1bn in Iranian cryptocurrency assets as part of the economic campaign launched by Trump. Iran has been charging for passage thru Hormuz in crypto currency
- Iran says a ceasefire deal has still not been reached after US President Donald Trump announced Washington’s demands for an agreement.
- “At this stage, we are focused on ending the war, and there are no negotiations on the nuclear issue,” the foreign ministry said, a response to some of Trump’s conditions.
- In advance of a crunch meeting at the White House with his aides, the US president said the naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz will be lifted and claimed the US would “unearth” Iran’s uranium.
- Israeli fire continues in Lebanon, killing more than a dozen people including several children.
- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has given orders for Israeli troops to seize more control of Gaza – at least 70 percent – during the “ceasefire” as deadly strikes continue.
More details on what happened today
- Iran said that a ceasefire agreement has yet to be finalised following the announcement of Washington’s demands for a deal by US President Donald Trump.
- The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency advised ship masters that a military blockade on Iranian ports continues to restrict all inbound and outbound maritime traffic.
- Hamas has criticised Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” for failing to speak out against the Israeli prime minister’s declared intentions to take control of 70 percent of the Gaza Strip, condemning the board’s silence over the plan to control more of the Palestinian enclave.
- The US Treasury Secretary said that any easing of the blockade on Iran will take place gradually, while also announcing that US had seized $1bn in Iranian cryptocurrency assets as part of the economic campaign launched by Trump.
- The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency states that Kazakhstan could hold Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium if a deal is reached between the US and Iran.
- The Israeli Prime Minister said that his troops have advanced past the Litani River in southern Lebanon, with Israeli media quoting Benjamin Netanyahu saying that forces crossed the river and moved into “dominating terrain”.
- Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said that 24 vessels have passed through the Strait of Hormuz in coordination with Iranian officials over the last 24 hours.
After Rubio meeting, Pakistan hopes mediation efforts will ‘yield positive results’
Pakistani officials had a “warm and cordial meeting” with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington, DC, Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said.
According to a summary released by the ministry, Rubio “acknowledged Pakistan’s diplomatic and mediatory efforts” during the meeting.
Ishaq Dar, the country’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister, expressed “confidence that Pakistan’s continued sincere efforts for peace and stability in the region and beyond, with the support of friendly countries, will yield positive results”.
The meeting comes as Islamabad mediates between Washington and Tehran. Top Pakistani officials have visited Iran in recent days.
Ex-CIA officer says Iran’s leadership is ‘hard to understand’
Former CIA officer Scott Uehlinger has told Al Jazeera that Donald Trump has been “hyping for the prospects of an immediate deal” with Iran for weeks.
The problem is that Iran’s leadership appears divided, Uehlinger said.
“The Iranians have definitely been speaking with two different voices one for the world community or on the negotiating table and the other to their own population.”
“It’s very hard to understand Iran [and] understand Iranian messages,” he added.
End the war now’: Ilhan Omar slams Congress over failure to halt conflict
Progressive US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar criticised Congress for failing to challenge executive war powers and stop the ongoing conflict with Iran.
In a post on X, she said, “Last week, House Republicans pulled down the vote needed to stop Trump’s war with Iran because they knew it was going to pass and upset Trump.” She noted that “Congress has failed to assert its authority for 12 straight weeks”.
“End the war now,” she added.
Barghouti says Netanyahu’s Gaza plan ends ‘pretence’ of ceasefire
Following Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement that Israel would take control of more than 70 percent of Gaza, Mustafa Barghouti, secretary general of the Palestinian National Initiative, spoke to Al Jazeera.
He said Netanyahu’s declaration effectively ended any remaining pretence that a ceasefire was in place.
“It’s the end of the so-called Board of Peace, which has claimed that it is responsible for the ceasefire,” he said. “What Israel has done and what Netanyahu declared is not only an insult to the Board of Peace, but also an insult to President Trump himself. But so far we have heard nothing from the United States or the US administration.”
Barghouti said Israel had violated the ceasefire agreement more than 3,000 times since it started last October.
Since then, Israeli attacks have killed at least 930 people, many of them women and children, and wounded more than 2,700 others. Barghouti also accused Israel of failing to meet its obligations under the agreement regarding humanitarian aid.
“What they allowed is less than 30 percent of what was decided according to that agreement,” added Barghouti.
“This means only two things, that Israel is planning to reactivate its genocidal war on Gaza … [and] they want to have ethnic cleansing of the whole population of Gaza.”
AL JAZEERA
