Iran war news highlights: Trump says 'most of the agreement' with Tehran is about nuclear issues

Trump hardens peace terms; Iran to submit new amendments to draft MoU: Report

Iran war news highlights: The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting Monday over Israel's expansion of its offensive in Lebanon, following the capture of the medieval castle of Beaufort, diplomatic sources told AFP. The meeting was requested by France and will take place immediately after an emergency meeting over the crash of a Russian drone into a Romanian apartment building, which is scheduled for 3:00 pm (1900 GMT), the sources said.

Israeli forces are making their deepest incursion inside Lebanon since they withdrew from the country over a quarter-century ago, despite a nominal US-brokered truce and the first direct Israel-Lebanon talks in decades. As Tehran wants the fighting in Lebanon to end as part of the deal with the US, this is a challenge that the negotiators and mediators will face.

No deal until rights of Iranians are secured, says Ghalibaf

Top Iranian negotiator and Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has once again targeted the US. He said ‘enemy’s promise' cannot be trusted, only objective results matter, IRNA reported. He also said that no agreement will be accepted until the ‘nation’s rights are secured'.

US President Donald Trump shared a highly stylised, artificial intelligence-generated image of himself on social media, showing a digitally fabricated portrait depicting him wearing an elaborate military uniform while pointing directly ahead. Adding to the confrontational tone of the post was a cryptic caption that read, 'YOU'RE GETTING DISCOMBOBULATED.'

In the background of the dramatic graphic, multiple fighter jets streak across the sky above his head, while several US-flagged warships cut through rough seas.

The post shared on Saturday (local time) comes as geopolitics in West Asia reach a critical juncture, and no long-term peace between Iran and the United States seems to be in sight.

The US-Iran peace deal

US President Donald Trump asked for several amendments to the deal his envoys reached with their Iranian counterparts during a Situation Room meeting on Friday, Axios reported, quoting a senior administration official and a second source briefed on the issue.

According to the two sources quoted in the report, Trump asked his team to make changes to the draft on clauses regarding Iran's nuclear program.

In its current form, the memorandum of understanding includes a commitment from Iran not to pursue a nuclear weapon, but no specific concessions beyond that.

It states that there will be a 60-day window to negotiate on nuclear commitments from Iran and sanctions relief from the US, with the first issues on the docket being how to dispose of Iran's enriched uranium stockpile and limit further enrichment. Trump wants to try to amend that part.

“It’s more specifics about how the U.S. gets the material [Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile] and the timing,” a senior administration official told Axios.

Trump also wants to change the language around the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a second source said.

Sources told Axios it would take Iran three days to respond. “At the turn of the week, we hope to have something,” the senior administration official said.

US' Hormuz prohibition

The US affirmed that deals with Iran to safely sail through the Strait of Hormuz — even those which don’t involve paying a toll — aren’t allowed, as the conflict between the two nations grinds on.

“Regardless of whether a payment is made, US persons are prohibited from receiving services from the Government of Iran, including services related to a guarantee of safe passage,” the US Treasury said in an updated statement dated May 29.

Shipping through Hormuz — the vital waterway that connects energy infrastructure inside the Persian Gulf to the rest of the world — has slowed to a trickle since the Iran war began on Feb. 28, sending the price of oil soaring. The White House has sent conflicting messages on the prospects for a deal with Iran, a pattern that continued on Friday.

Iran created a new entity called the Persian Gulf Strait Authority to “collect tolls and extort vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz,” Treasury said in the statement. The US Office of Foreign Assets Control has designated the PGSA “pursuant to our counterterrorism authorities,” and warned that having dealings with it carries sanctions risks.

Pete Hegseth's warning to Iran

Addressing a defence summit in Singapore on Saturday, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth underscored Washington's operational preparedness, asserting that the US was "more than capable" of restarting the war if required. He further affirmed that "our stockpiles are more than suited for that".

To provide immediate operational backing for Hegseth's statements, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) reinforced the message through a public post on X.

The command confirmed that American military assets "remain present and vigilant across the region".

These hardline warnings emerged amid conflicting signals about a potential diplomatic breakthrough.

Mixed signals about peace deal

While the White House has signalled that President Trump is currently assessing a tentative framework, Iranian authorities have firmly countered that the ongoing discussions have not yet produced a final deal.

Even though a fragile ceasefire negotiated in April has generally been maintained, underlying hostilities continue to flare across the region.

Highlighting this volatility, Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported that domestic air defence networks successfully intercepted an unmanned aerial vehicle on Saturday.

The agency characterised the asset as one "belonging to the US-Zionist aggressor enemy".

The Israel-Lebanon situation

Simultaneously, parallel diplomatic tracks are being aggressively pursued with negotiators expanding their focus to the overlapping conflict in Lebanon.

Tehran has rigidly insisted that ceasefire in Lebanon must be a precondition to any overarching settlement with Washington.

This diplomatic manoeuvring is unfolding alongside active ground developments, as Israeli forces continue their territorial advance into southern Lebanon.

This push persisted even as military delegations representing both Israel and Lebanon convened for direct discussions at the Pentagon on Friday.

In defining the path forward, US President Trump has explicitly outlined several non-negotiable benchmarks for a binding accord.

Trump's non-negotiables and Iran's denial

These include ironclad guarantees that Iran will never acquire nuclear weapons, alongside the immediate and full reopening of the economically vital Strait of Hormuz.

Tehran, conversely, has flatly dismissed what it perceives as an American attempt to unilaterally impose dictates.

In a critique of the diplomatic tone, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei stated that the Islamic Republic "said goodbye to the language of 'must' 47 years ago".

While openly acknowledging that bilateral communications continue between the adversarial nations, Baqaei explicitly stated that "no final agreement has been reached".

Compounding this diplomatic gridlock, the Tasnim news agency reported that the highly restrictive US maritime blockade remains fully operational at sea.

The agency documented that vessels attempting to navigate the strategic strait are systematically "receiving warnings from CENTCOM to stop and not cross the blockade line".