As Israel continued to press its offensive against Iran-backed Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, the UN Force in Lebanon said a peacekeeper had been killed on Sunday and another critically injured by a projectile that hit a UNIFIL position.
UNIFIL said they did not know the origin of the projectile but were investigating.
Trump, citing the number of Iranian leaders who have been killed in the month-long US-Israeli war against Iran, said regime change has already been achieved and the new leadership is “much more reasonable”.
“We’ve had regime change,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One. “We’re dealing with different people than anybody’s dealt with before. It’s a whole different group of people. So I would consider that regime change.”
Asked whether there could be a deal with Iran this coming week, Trump said: “I do see a deal in Iran. Could be soon.”
Trump said that Iran has accepted “most” of a 15-point proposal put forward by Washington to end the ongoing conflict, with the framework conveyed through Pakistan in indirect negotiations.
Trump indicated that Tehran had largely agreed to the demands. “They gave us most of the points. Why wouldn’t they?” he said, adding that the US may still push for “a couple of other things” as discussions progress.
In Pakistan, the government is looking to capitalise on its links with Tehran and the Gulf states, as well as a budding rapport with Trump, to broker peace talks.
“Pakistan is very happy that both Iran and the US have expressed their confidence in Pakistan to facilitate the talks,” Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said.
But the speaker of Iran’s parliament has accused Washington of using diplomacy as a smoke screen.
“The enemy publicly sends messages of negotiation and dialogue while secretly planning a ground attack,” Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said in a statement carried by the official IRNA news agency.
“Our men are waiting for the arrival of the American soldiers on the ground to set them on fire and punish their regional allies once and for all,” he added.
Strikes on Kuwait, Saudi Arabia
Weeks of unrelenting strikes have taken a heavy toll on ordinary people in Iran.
“I miss a peaceful night’s sleep,” an artist in Tehran told AFP, saying night-time strikes were “so intense it felt like all of Tehran was shaking”.
The war has escalated into a regional conflagration as Tehran retaliates with attacks on Gulf states and virtually seals the critical Strait of Hormuz oil shipping lane, sending energy markets into a tailspin and threatening the world economy.
An Iranian strike on a power station and water desalination in Kuwait killed one Indian worker and damaged a building at the site, the Gulf state’s electricity ministry said Monday.
Saudi Arabia’s defence ministry said its forces detected and intercepted five ballistic missiles.
Iran’s energy ministry reported power outages in the capital on Sunday, its surrounding region and Alborz province “following attacks on electricity industry facilities.”
Trump has previously threatened to strike Iranian power stations if Tehran does not negotiate, before repeatedly extending a deadline to do so.
Iran says it has closed the Strait of Hormuz, which previously accounted for a quarter of the world’s seaborne oil trade and a fifth of liquefied natural gas shipments, to vessels from hostile nations.
The war has sent oil prices soaring, with benchmark US oil contract, West Texas Intermediate, once again surpassing $100 a barrel early Monday, while Brent climbed above $115.
Israel boosts defence spending
Israel’s parliament passed its 2026 budget early Monday, including about $10 billion in new military spending, bringing the country’s total defence budget to about $45 billion.
Israel renews strikes on Iran
The Israeli military said late Sunday that it had launched new strikes on targets across Iran’s capital Tehran.
Pakistan talks
Pakistan said on Sunday that it was ready to broker and host “meaningful talks” between the United States and Iran to bring an end to their war, outlining growing support for its peace efforts, including from the United Nations and China.
Foreign ministers from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey met in Islamabad.
Ambassador refuses
Iran’s ambassador will not leave Lebanon despite being declared persona non grata and ordered to quit the country by Sunday, an Iranian diplomatic source has told AFP.
Lebanon’s foreign ministry accused him of making statements “interfering in Lebanon’s internal politics”.
University hit
A university in Iran’s central city of Isfahan said it was hit by US-Israeli airstrikes for the second time since the war erupted.
Kuwait attack
Kuwait’s defence ministry said 10 service members were injured in an attack on a military camp, as Iran continues targeting positions in the region.
Lebanon toll rises
Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli strikes had killed 1,238 people in the country since the start of the latest war with Hezbollah on March 2.
Israeli expansion
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered his military to “further expand” a security zone in Lebanon.
30 days offline
Iran’s nationwide internet blackout has now lasted 30 days, leaving millions cut off from information and communication since the war began.
Iran missile unit
The Israeli military said it had attacked a key production facility in Tehran used by Iran’s defence ministry to manufacture components for ballistic missiles.
Israeli industrial zone hit
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had struck an industrial complex in southern Israel with ballistic missiles.
AFP footage from the ground showed the charred shell of a warehouse billowing thick clouds of white, grey and black smoke, while fire engines trained powerful jets of water on the blaze.
The Israeli military said the impact in the zone could be from “missile shrapnel”.
Aircraft carrier threat
Iran’s navy chief Shahram Irani said the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier would be targeted by the Islamic republic if it comes within range.
Journalists’ funeral
Lebanon held a funeral for three journalists killed by an Israeli strike the previous day in the south of the country.
The Israeli military said it carried out the attack to assassinate Ali Shoeib, a veteran correspondent for Hezbollah’s Al Manar TV, whom it accused, without providing evidence, of working as a Hezbollah operative.
Qatari TV office hit
Qatari news channel Al Araby said an Israeli missile hit a building housing its office in Tehran, causing damage and, according to the Iranian Red Crescent, wounding 10 people.
