War, latest news. Iran, Rubio: 'Agreement needs days'. Israel media: Hamas military wing chief killed

The Iranian Pasdaran, said that 25 ships, including oil tankers, have crossed the Strait of Hormuz in the past 24 hours, after receiving clearance and security coordination from their navy. In a statement released by Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency, the Irgc Navy said the ships, including container ships, crossed the Strait during "the last day and night" with coordination and security provided by its forces.

US President Donald Trump is currently on the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. This is reported by Axios journalist Barak Ravid, citing a source with knowledge of the facts.

Talks between the United States and Iran on extending the ceasefire and reopening the Strait of Hormuz will still take several days. This was stated by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaking on the plane taking him back to the States after his visit to India.

"A lot of exchanges are taking place on specific points of the initial document," Rubio explained, as quoted by the Associated Press, "so it will take a few days," he added.

The 10 activists of the overland convoy of the Global Sumud Flotilla are still detained. Maghreb Sumud's Instagram profile, which provides continuous updates on the volunteers' situation, posted a video collage with the faces and voices of the 10 activists, including the two Italians - Domenico Centrione and Leonarda Alberizia - who were detained in Sirte by Libyan militiamen affiliated with General Khalifa Haftar on Sunday while trying to negotiate an advance for the convoy. From there they were transferred to Benghazi, awaiting trial while they were considered 'potential illegal immigrants'.

"From every corner of the world, and in many languages, they arrived with one heart and one goal: to reach Gaza with humanitarian aid," Maghreb Sumud wrote on Tuesday, recalling that "today, they are detained, and we are still waiting for their release and reassurances on their safety". The delegation of the 10 activists (in addition to the two Italians, there are citizens from Spain, Poland, the United States, Argentina, Uruguay and Tunisia), had attempted to negotiate in Sirte the passage of the convoy of humanitarian aid bound for Gaza.

"A new appeal must be made there for respect for the human rights of all". This was said by Pope Leo, responding to a question from journalists on the Flotilla. "Unfortunately, the people of Gaza," he added, "are still not receiving humanitarian aid and this is causing protests, difficulties and also the action of those who participated in the Flotilla, I would like to renew the appeal to all the authorities to assist the people of Gaza.

A thick column of smoke rises as Israeli raids hit the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh and surrounding areas. Several attacks hit the area after an unprecedented evacuation warning issued by Israel.

Israel announces that it has targeted Muhammad Odeh, the new leader of the military wing of Hamas, in Gaza. In a joint statement by Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz, it was stated that Odeh is one of the perpetrators of the 7 October massacre: 'Odeh was head of the Hamas intelligence headquarters at the time of the massacre and was appointed about a week ago to replace Izz ad-Din Haddad, who was eliminated in an IDF attack in the Gaza Strip about a fortnight ago. We will continue to hunt down all those who took part in the 7 October massacre. Sooner or later, Israel will catch them all'.

The Strait of Hormuz should be fully reopened, without a toll system, as soon as an agreement is reached. This was stated by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on board the plane he is taking back to the US after his mission to India. "I know of no country in the world that is in favour of a toll system," Rubio said in a video snippet broadcast by CNN. "The Russians are not in favour, the Chinese are not in favour. And there is no country in the world that is in favour of a toll system, except the regime in Iran. So it is not acceptable. It cannot happen'.

"The straits must be open, unimpeded, toll-free. And of course, this must happen immediately, as soon as an agreement is reached,' Rubio stressed.

The Israeli government has approved the extension of operations in Lebanon beyond the 'yellow line' in the south of the country, with ground incursions and air raids in the southern areas and the Beqa'a valley, and they will not be able to focus on the Beirut area. This was reported by Channel 12, pointing out that this is the red line set by the Trump administration to Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, while negotiations on an understanding with Iran are ongoing in parallel.

The US Central Command denies Wall Street Journal rumours of a resumption by the US Navy of escorting emrcantile ships through the Strait of Hormuz. "Recent media reports claim that the US Navy has resumed escorting or assisting commercial ships during transits through the Strait of Hormuz. False. 'Project Freedom' has not resumed and US forces are not currently escorting commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz,' Centcom states on X.

Israeli soldiers have begun operatingoverland in Lebanon beyond the 'yellow line' - the buffer zone, some ten kilometres from the border - established by the April armed truce. This was reported by Channel 12 citing reports from Lebanon that Idf forces were also spotted in areas not controlled by the army. For now, the IDF has not commented on the news.

The operations, Israeli media explain, were launched as part of an effort to push Hezbollah militants further north and reduce the threat of explosive drone attacks against Israeli communities in the north. According to a security source quoted by Times of Israel, troops would conduct targeted raids, based on intelligence information, both beyond the advanced defensive line and north of the Litani River, focusing on areas where Hezbollah maintains infrastructure and operational bases.

The US Navy has resumed assisting the transit of ships through the Strait of Hormuz. The Wall Street Journal reported this, citing US military officials. Sources told the Journal that a Greek supertanker, loaded with two million barrels of crude oil, was escorted by the US Navy as it passed through the channel off the coast of Oman. The ship had been stranded in the Gulf since early March and is now on its way to India to deliver its cargo.

US President Donald Trump will convene his administration's ministers at his summer residence at Camp David, CNN reports, citing White House sources. This will be the first meeting of the full cabinet since 26 March, the tenth since the start of Trump's second term; on the agenda will be above all the peace negotiations with Iran, which have reached a decisive stage.

'The first step towards free and regulated access to the Internet has been taken,' Iranian Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref made official in a post on X. The return of operations comes after an online communication blackout of almost three months (88 days). The Iranian government had in fact cut off Internet access following the attacks launched by the United States and Israel on 28 February. For the authorities in Tehran, the aim was to prevent surveillance, espionage and cyber attacks. The halt in Internet communications is considered the longest ever recorded for a nation. According to the Internet monitoring site Netblocks, the Internet has been blacked out in the country for some 2093 consecutive hours, while uptime in recent hours - according to NetBlocks' own data - is around 34% of pre-conflict levels.

The Lebanese Ministry of Health said that in the last 24 hours, 28 people were killed and 104 wounded in Israeli attacks across the country. According to the ministry's figures, 3,213 people have been killed and 9,737 injured in Israeli attacks since hostilities resumed on 2 March.

Israeli soldiers have started overland operations in Lebanon beyond the 'yellow line' of the armed truce. This was reported by Channel 12.

An oil tanker reported an external explosion off the coast of Muscat, Oman, according to United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations.

The Ukmto stated that the incident occurred 60 nautical miles from Muscat, with the explosion reported on the port side of the vessel's stern, close to the waterline.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a security consultation at the Military Headquarters of the Kirya in Tel Aviv, together with Defence Minister Israel Katz and Israel Defence Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir.

This was reported by the Jewish state premier's office in a statement.

The Lebanese group Hezbollah reported close firefights with Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) soldiers who were "advancing towards Zawtar al-Sharqiyah", a locality located in the Nabatiyeh district, north of the Litani river in southern Lebanon. In a statement reported by the daily L'Orient Le Jour, Hezbollah said it had used missiles, artillery strikes and kamikaze drones against a 'composite force' and had 'directly engaged it in combat'. The militiamen specified that the clashes occurred after the village had been targeted with "intense air raids and artillery fire" by the Israelis. During the clashes, "still ongoing", a Merkava tank was "destroyed by an Ababil attack drone".

Washington, 26 May (Adnkronos) - The agreement between the United States and Iran is "within reach", although the issue of the nuclear programme remains to be defined and will be addressed later. This is the conviction of Mehrzad Boroujerdi, an Iranian-American university lecturer at the Missouri University of Science and Technology and author of 'Postrevolutionary Iran: A Political Handbook', who in an interview with Adnkronos highlights China's role in the conflict, the consequences of the blockade in Hormuz on the oil market and emphasises that the United States is in a greater hurry to close an agreement than the Islamic Republic. "I believe that the agreement is now within reach, although the final solution on the nuclear dossier has not yet been reached. That will come later," says the lecturer, who says the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has had a huge impact on the global energy market, creating pressures that the US administration can no longer afford to ignore. "Markets have been hugely affected by the closure of Hormuz. The resulting inflationary pressures and disruptions to supply chains were not something Trump could ignore for much longer,' he explains. Tehran, he continues, for its part is adept at using control over the strait as negotiating leverage. 'Iran will only reopen the strait when it is guaranteed major concessions. And it also knows that it can close it at any time if developments do not go in the desired direction," says Boroujerdi, according to whom it is Washington that now shows more urgency in reaching an understanding. 'In my opinion, Washington is more eager to reach an agreement, while Tehran can afford to wait longer because it wants to make sure that it does not come to an unnecessary agreement and that it will not be attacked again later'.

"All parties" involved in the Iranian conflict should "lay down their arms" and "resolve outstanding differences by peaceful means, in accordance with international law". This was stated by Anouar El Anouni, spokesperson for the European Commission, during the daily press briefing, reiterating the Union's position on having "consistently supported diplomacy to stop the war throughout the Middle East and to restore full freedom of navigation, with safe, free and toll-free passage through the Strait of Hormuz, in the interests of the region and the global economy". For its part, the EU "will continue to maintain its diplomatic commitments to address the full range of our interests and concerns in coordination with our partners," he concluded.

The IDF announced that it carried out night raids against more than 100 Hezbollah sites and militants in the Beqaa Valley in eastern Lebanon and throughout the south of the country. According to the army, the raids targeted weapons depots, command centres, observation posts and other infrastructure used by Hezbollah to plan and execute attacks against troops and civilians. In a raid in the Mashghara area in the Beqaa Valley, the army explained that it had hit infrastructure where Hezbollah militants had been identified, killing them in a series of attacks carried out within seconds of each other.

The Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said his visit to Qatar was "overall positive", adding that it led to progress in talks between Iran and the US. Tasnim reports. According to Ghalibaf, the visit was aimed at reaching an agreement on how to implement Iran's demands regarding frozen funds. Tasnim also reports that a possible memorandum of understanding between Iran and the US would require the release of $24 billion of Iranian funds frozen during the negotiations.

Some $24 billion of Iranian funds frozen abroad are expected to be released under a memorandum of understanding being negotiated with the United States. This was said by a source close to the negotiating team in Tehran, the Iranian news agency Tasnim reported today. The agency reported that Iran's chief negotiator, Mohammad Baqr Qalibaf, travelled to Qatar to reach agreement on a mechanism to implement this demand.

The head of the Shin Bet (Israeli domestic intelligence service), David Zini, travelled to the United Arab Emirates after the announcement of the ceasefire between the US and Iran and met with Mohammed Dahlan. This was reported by Channel 11 citing regional and Israeli sources. Dahlan, a historical domestic rival of Abu Mazen, who has been in exile in the Emirates since 2011, was responsible for Fatah's preventive security in the Gaza Strip. In 2024 his name emerged as one of the possible candidates for the leadership of Gaza as an alternative to Hamas.

The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) have started to call up reservists after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that military operations in Lebanon will be intensified. This was reported by Israeli broadcaster Kann, according to which recently discharged soldiers were ordered to report for reserve duty immediately. In turn, broadcaster Channel 13 revealed that discussions on extending the campaign in Lebanon have intensified in recent days, and the Chief of Staff of the IDF, General Eyal Zamir, reportedly told ministers at a security meeting that "buildings in the Dahiyeh neighbourhood of Beirut should be demolished" in response to the threat of Hezbollah drones. Yesterday, a US official told the Times of Israel that the US might give the green light to a large-scale Israeli operation against Hezbollah in the face of the recent increase in drone attacks.

Iran has executed a man on charges of espionage on behalf of Israel: this was reported by the Tasnim news agency, linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. According to the report, Gholamreza Khani Shekarab's conviction was confirmed by the country's Supreme Court before being executed

"Unfortunately, the situation has seen a halt in the negotiations, with very tough positions: this does not help, we need to move forward in the dialogue and reopen Hormuz," Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said, commenting on the state of negotiations between the United States and Iran on the sidelines of the Confindustria general assembly. "If there is a truce it must be respected: even in Lebanon we need more prudence from everyone, Hezbollah must not attack but Israel must also respect the truce that there is," he concluded.

China called on the 'parties involved' in the Middle East conflict, the US and Iran, to respect the ceasefire. This was stated by Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning. Mao responded at the conference to a question about the resumption of US attacks against Iranian missile sites and boats attempting to lay mines. "We urge the parties concerned to abide by their ceasefire commitments, to resolve disputes through peaceful means," Mao said, calling for "promoting the rapid restoration of peace".

"Time will not stand still and the nations and lands of the region will no longer shield American bases. They will no longer be a safe haven for evil and will no longer host military bases in the region'. This was stated by Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatolla Mojtaba Khamenei in his message on the occasion of the Hajj. This was reported by the Irna news agency.

Any new aggression against Iran will receive a 'much more severe' response that will extend beyond the region. This was stated by Iranian Armed Forces spokesman Abolfazl Shekarchi. Shekarchi - writes the Iranian news agency Fars - added that in the event of a new conflict, Iran's attacks would extend beyond the region's borders and would be more intense and violent than previous ones.

Abolfazl Shekarchi, a high-ranking spokesman for the Iranian Armed Forces, stated that any new aggression against Iran will receive a 'much more severe' response that will extend beyond the borders of the region. Al-Jazeera writes that. "If we are attacked, our attacks will be harsher, more intense and more powerful. Our response will go beyond the region,' the military's statement, as reported on X, 'The target has already been identified and is ready. The response to any new aggression will be different. If they prevent our exports, Iran will prevent oil from leaving the region'.

The price of Brent oil, the European benchmark, rose 2.1% to $98.15 per barrel. The price of Wti oil, the US benchmark, fell 4.94% to $91.66 per barrel.

The ECB is expected to raise interest rates in June, even if the ongoing peace talks with Iran lead to an agreement, as the conflict has lasted much longer than expected and high energy prices are being passed on to the economy as a whole, said Isabel Schnabel, a member of the Governing Council. "Given the magnitude and persistence of the current shock, ignoring it is no longer an option in my view," Schnabel told Reuters in an interview. "From today's perspective, I think a rate hike in June will be necessary." Although the US has signalled progress in peace talks with Iran, for Schnabel, "even if the war ended today, a lot of damage has already been done to global energy infrastructure and supply chains." "So even then, I think a monetary policy reaction would be necessary." "We have now moved beyond the adverse scenario," he added, "which assumed a rapid normalisation of oil prices.

Isabel Schnabel, membro del comitato consultivo tedesco di esperti economici, partecipa al 29° Congresso Bancario Europeo (EBC) di Francoforte presso la Vecchia Opera di Francoforte, in Germania, il 22 novembre 2019. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski/

"We have just discovered that it is possible to kill 80,000 people, including more than 10,000 children, displace 2 million people and call it self-defence". Thus on X Iranian state TV Irib, commenting on the news of the US 'self-defence' attacks.

Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has stated that he does not believe Islamabad should join the Abraham Agreements, which normalise relations with Israel, according to a report by the ANI news agency. 'Personally, I don't believe we should join any agreement that conflicts with our fundamental ideologies,' Asif said in an interview with Samaa TV, according to a report by ANI. 'We have a very clear position: this is unacceptable to us.

Further reading

How the energy routes move, on the trail of Abraham's agreements

02 April 2026

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has ordered the restoration of the internet connection in the country. This was reported by the Fars news agency, citing the Ministry of Communications. "The resolution on the restoration of the internet was published by the president of Iran for the Ministry of Communications," the statement read. The decision comes after months of restrictions. Protests had erupted in Iran at the end of December 2025 in connection with the devaluation of the national currency, which then degenerated into riots and actions against the authorities. At that stage, the internet had stopped working.

An agreement between the US and Iran would be 'close to completion'. This was reported by Pakistani army chief Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir during a meeting in Beijing with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, according to a summary released by the Chinese government. Munir updated Wang on the status of the Pakistan-led mediation between Washington and Tehran, saying that Islamabad also hoped for a further role of China in the process.

(cont'd)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the Strait of Hormuz will reopen 'one way or another'. International media reported that. "The straits have to be opened. They will be opened one way or another, so they have to be opened," Rubio said in the Indian city of Jaipur, where he is on an official visit. "What is happening there is illegal, it is illicit, it is untenable for the world, it is unacceptable," he added.

Donald Trump compares his Iran policy with that of Barak Obama. In an image posted on his social network Truth contrasts the former president's money granted to Tehran with his policy of forceful missiles. The commander-in-chief has been criticised for the Iran deal, which many consider worse than that of his predecessor.

epa12993435 Il presidente degli Stati Uniti Donald Trump ispeziona le colonne del Portico Nord della Casa Bianca a Washington, DC, USA, il 25 maggio 2026. EPA/AARON SCHWARTZ / POOL

The US military conducted several so-called 'self-defence' raids in southern Iran against Iranian missile launch sites and boats that were - according to the Americans - trying to lay mines. This was reported by the US Central Command, explaining that the operations were carried out 'to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces'.

The attacks occurred while Iranian negotiators were in Qatar for talks on ending the war and threaten to complicate a possible agreement that US President Donald Trump has outlined as the way to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and mitigate the most serious energy disruption in decades.