Iran-US war latest: Trump demands more countries sign peace agreements with Israel as part of Tehran deal

Explosions were ⁠heard in Iran’s Bandar Abbas city and coastal areas near the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian ⁠media reported ​on ⁠Monday, adding that the cause was unknown.

Iran’s Mehr ⁠news agency said the ​situation ⁠in Bandar ‌Abbas was under control and there was no cause for ‌concern after the explosions ‌were heard east of the city. It said official ⁠sources had not yet commented.

The Tasnim news agency said three explosions were heard in Bandar Abbas, while the Fars news agency said similar ‌sounds were heard close ​to Sirik and Jask ‌near the ⁠strategic waterway.

Iran’s top negotiator and its foreign minister were in Doha for talks with Qatar’s prime minister on a potential deal with the US to end the three-month-old war, an official briefed on the visit told Reuters on Monday, after Washington and Tehran played down hopes for an imminent breakthrough.

US Secretary ⁠of state Marco Rubio told reporters in New Delhi earlier that the US would give diplomacy every chance to succeed before considering whether to deal with Iran in “another way”.

There was a “pretty solid thing on the table in terms of their ability to open up the strait (of Hormuz), get the strait open, enter into a very real, significant, time-limited negotiation on the nuclear matter, and hopefully we can pull it off,” Rubio said.

In a lengthy post on Truth Social on Monday, Donald Trump said talks with Iran were going “nicely”, but warned of fresh attacks if they failed. It “will only be a Great Deal for all, or no Deal at all,” he ⁠wrote.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said in a briefing that conclusions had been reached on many topics ​but that ⁠did not mean the sides were close to agreement.

The official briefed on the Iranians’ Doha visit told Reuters the discussions focused primarily on the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium while Iran’s central bank governor attended to discuss the potential release of frozen Iranian funds as part of a final deal.

Baghaei said earlier ⁠that nuclear issues would only be negotiated on if the framework accord is agreed first.

In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, Trump said that the “final aspects and details of the deal” were being discussed, with his comments confirmed by US secretary of state Marco Rubio who said that “significant progress” had been made.

Rubio also hinted at further good news to come on Sunday “at least in regards to the Strait”. Details leaked to US and Iranian media suggest that significant work has been done to agree a draft memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran.

Iran’s top negotiator and its foreign minister were in Doha for talks with Qatar’s prime minister on a potential deal with the US to end the three-month-old war, an official briefed on the visit said on Monday.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said in a weekly briefing on Monday that a conclusion had been reached on many topics in the peace deal, but that does not mean that “we’re close to signing an agreement”.

The official ⁠briefed on the Iranians’ Doha visit said that the discussions were focused primarily on the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, while the country’s central bank governor ​is also part of ⁠the delegation to discuss the potential release of frozen Iranian funds as part ‌of a final deal.

Farmers across Sudan say the hike in global fuel and fertiliser costs resulting from the Iran conflict will force them to cut back on planting this summer, restricting food production in a country where war has caused acute hunger.

Eight farmers from different parts of Sudan, as well as experts working in the sector, told news agency Reuters that fuel and fertiliser price increases would compound problems caused by a civil war, hitting staple domestic crops such as sorghum and millet as well as exports like sesame.

Sudan is particularly vulnerable to the fallout from the Iran crisis as it relies on the Gulf for more than half of its fertiliser needs, according to UN data, while the war between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has left it entirely dependent on fuel imports. The country is also already at the forefront of a looming global food crisis at a time of shrinking aid budgets.

About 19.5 million people, more than 40 per cent of the population, are facing crisis levels of hunger.

Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian has issued an order to reopen international internet access, Iranian ⁠state media reported on Monday, citing an official after a near-90-day blackout in the wake of the war against the US and Israel.

The report cited ⁠the head of public ​relations ⁠at Iran’s Communications Ministry.

The mechanism for how and when Iran would reconnect ⁠to the global web following the decision was ​unknown.

Most ⁠Iranians have been ‌unable to access the worldwide web for 87 days according to the internet observatory ‌NetBlocks on Monday, with only a ‌few citizens having access to expensive and advanced VPNs that circumvent the restrictions.

Authorities initially imposed an internet ⁠blackout from 8 January in response to nationwide anti-government protests, with connections gradually getting back to normal in February, before a new blackout was initiated following the start of U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iran on 28 February.

In ‌normal times, access to the ​global internet remains heavily restricted via censorship ‌of many websites, ⁠while authorities are increasingly relying on an ⁠intranet to provide connected services without relying on the ‌worldwide web, ​notably for schools which are ‌currently following an online curriculum.

During a joint press conference involving the US secretary of state in New Delhi on Sunday, a reporter appears to have indirectly raised president Donald Trump’s endorsement of an American podcaster’s remarks describing India as a “hellhole”.

Mr Trump had shared the “hellhole” remark on his Truth Social platform, prompting India’s government to denounce it as inappropriate and “in poor taste”.

“We have a lot of racist comments coming from the United States against Indians, Indian Americans. This goes against the basic premise of the India-US relationship. What’s your take on that?” Mr Rubio was asked during the press conference after his talks with Indian foreign minister S Jaishankar.

“Who made those comments?” Mr Rubio asked. “Which ones?”

The Indian reporter responded that the comments were “pretty well known” and that “we have seen endorsement of those comments”, without specifying what he was referring to.

Mr Rubio then offered a general answer saying that there were stupid people everywhere. “I don’t know how to address that but I’ll take that very seriously, about the comments,” he said.

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The US and Iran ⁠are discussing a plan to ⁠open ​the ⁠Strait of ⁠Hormuz about ​30 ⁠days ‌after the two countries reach ‌a deal ‌to end ⁠hostilities, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Monday citing a ‌Middle ​East ‌diplomatic ⁠source.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told confidants in private conversations that Israel has little ability to influence Donald Trump’s decision-making on Iran as the US president negotiates a deal in the nearly three-month-old war, two sources told news agency Reuters.

Mr Netanyahu’s comments, described by two Israeli officials with knowledge of the conversations, come as Israel has largely been left out of talks to reach an initial deal to halt a war that began with joint US-Israeli bombardment.

Both the US and Iran have played down hopes for an imminent breakthrough in talks, and they remain at odds over Iran’s nuclear ambitions, Tehran’s demands for the lifting of sanctions and Israel’s war in Lebanon with Hezbollah militants.

Mr Netanyahu is demanding the right to continue operations against perceived threats on all fronts, including Lebanon, a caveat that could derail a deal if Iran insists on a complete halt to Israeli military operations in southern Lebanon.