Ceasefire talks in limbo as Trump demands changes, Israel pummels Lebanon

The negotiation dance between Tehran and Washington is still dragging on, with no certainty on whether or when the two sides will finally agree on a version of an extended ceasefire.

The US and Iran exchanged fresh strikes, with the US Central Command saying thismorning that it hit “Iranian radar and control sites for drones” on Saturday and Sunday. The strikes were “in response to aggressive Iranian actions,” including the shoot-down of a US drone operating over international waters. Iran also said this morning that it targeted a US airbase in the region in retaliation. Tehran did not specify where the airbase was, but Kuwaiti news agency KUNA reported this morning that sirens were sounding across the country as air defenses intercepted incoming attacks.

US President Donald Trump is reportedly pushing to amend the latest draft of an agreement US and Iranian negotiators had reached over the weekend, specifically to points on the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and the fate of Iran’s uranium stockpiles. Iran had reportedly demanded an immediate release of USD 12 bn in frozen assets held in Qatar as a precondition for the talks, although Doha later rejected the demand and instead agreed to allow Iran to use half of that amount to purchase goods from Qatar. That demand came as the US Treasury Department announced fresh sanctions on Iran’s military oil sales.

While Pakistan continues to engage in shuttle diplomacy between the two countries, the fighting in the region hasn’t really stopped. Israel is continuing to expand its ground assault in Lebanon, moving further into the country’s south and pummeling Beirut despite the ceasefire agreement reached weeks earlier. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is reportedly negotiating a plan for “gradual de-escalation” between Israel and Lebanon, which would begin with Hezbollah standing down and halting its attacks on Israel. In exchange, Israel would stop further escalations in Lebanon. Neither side has committed to the agreement.

Meanwhile, even as Hormuz remains technically shut, some tankers are making their way through the strait by going dark. Umm Al Ashtan — an LNG tanker managed by Adnoc L&S — transited Hormuz and repeated off Oman carrying LNG bound for India after going dark near the eastern entrance to Hormuz in early May, Bloomberg reports. Adnoc has also exported three other LNG shipments from the Gulf on tankers that went dark while crossing Hormuz, the latest of which has since docked in western India. Other vessels carrying crude from Iraq and Saudi Arabia have also slipped through the waterway over the past week.

US forces have escorted c. 70 ships through the strait in the past three weeks, according to a New York Times report out this morning.