US and Iran send mixed messages about plans to pursue a ceasefire agreement. Follow live.

Mixed messaging from Iran and US on ceasefire deal Published June 1, 2026last updated June 1, 2026What you need to know - Iran is halting indirect talks with the US over Israel's widening assault on Lebanon, Iranian state media reported - President Donald Trump initially said he "couldn't care less" but then said on social media that talks were continuing - Trump also said Israel and Hezbollah agreed to stop attacking each other in Lebanon without explaining further - Israeli military ordered residents of Beirut's southern suburb of Dahieh, a Hezbollah stronghold, to evacuate Monday - Israeli troops moved deeper into Lebanon and captured a strategic castle in the country over the weekend - Hezbollah has fired on Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon and northern Israel in recent weeks This is a roundup of the developments in Iran and the Middle East on Monday, June 1: Israel 'to operate as planned in southern Lebanon,' Netanyahu says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stressed that the Israeli military will "continue to operate as planned in southern Lebanon," without explicitly clarifying whether he has agreed to a US proposal to cease Israeli strikes on southern Beirut. "I spoke this evening with President Trump and told him that if Hezbollah does not stop firing at our cities and citizens – Israel will strike terrorist targets in Beirut," Netanyahu said in a statement on X, adding: "This position of ours remain (sic) unchanged." Meanwhile, the Lebanese government said it received assurances from US President Donald Trump that Netanyahu had agreed to a US proposal to stop Israeli attacks on the Lebanese capital, in exchange for Hezbollah halting attacks on Israel. Hezbollah accepts to halt attacks on Israel, Beirut says The Lebanese government announced that the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group accepted a US proposal to cease attacks on Israel in exchange for Israel halting strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs. A statement posted by the Lebanese Embassy in Washington on X said the agreement with Hezbollah was "in the context of the efforts exerted by the Lebanese state to preserve stability and spare Lebanon further escalation." The agreement followed a phone call between Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and was followed by another call between US President Donald Trump and Lebanese Ambassador to the US Nada Maawad. "Under the proposed arrangement, Israeli strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs would cease in exchange for Hezbollah refraining from carrying out attacks against Israel, with the ceasefire framework to be expanded to encompass all Lebanese territories," the statement read. According to the statement, Trump informed Maawad that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had also agreed to the proposal. Negotiations are scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, "to discuss this progress and build upon it," the embassy added. UN Security Council convening for emergency Lebanon meeting The UN Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting on the war in Lebanon for late Monday in New York, amid threats of escalation and Israeli strikes in the south of the country. This comes a day before Lebanon and Israel are scheduled to begin a fourth round of US-hosted direct negotiations on Tuesday. Shortly before the session, US President Donald Trump claimed on social media that he had spoken to both sides and secured assurances that they would de-escalate. But this followed a few hours after the Israeli government had threatened renewed attacks on the south of the capital Beirut unless rocket and drone attacks in northern Israel stopped. It also came as Lebanese state-run news agencies on Monday reported Israeli airstrikes on dozens of locations in the south, including one that reportedly damaged a hospital in Tyre. Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said "we are deeply alarmed by the escalation in military activities across southern Lebanon and beyond." He urged all sides "to respect the cessation of hostilities and avoid further escalation." The meeting was set to start at 3 p.m. local time in New York. Trump claims Israel, Hezbollah both pledged to tone down fighting US President Donald Trump has claimed that after talks both with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and "highly placed" Hezbollah representatives, both sides had indicated a willingness to halt strikes. This comes after Israel threatened renewed strikes on southern Beirut, and after Iran said it would deem this a breach of its ceasefire with the US. "I had a very productive call with Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, of Israel, and there will be no troops going to Beirut, and any troops that are on their way, have already been turned back," Trump asserted on social media. "Likewise, thorugh highly placed representatives, I had a very good call with Hezbollah, and they agreed that all shooting will stop — that Israel will not attack them, and they will not attack Israel." In a subsequent post a few minutes later, Trump wrote that: "Talks are continuing, at a rapid pace, with the Islamic Republic of Iran." This seemed to contradict earlier reports on Iranian state media, which cited the intensifying tensions in Lebanon as a reason to put the negotiations on hold. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier in the day instructed the Israeli military to strike Beirut's Dahieh district, a stronghold of Iran-backed Hezbollah. Lebanon's Health Ministry on Monday afternoon reported an airstrike on the southern city of Tyre but there were no strikes on the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital as of Monday mid-evening. Iran is suspending talks with the US over Israel's strikes on Lebanon Iranian state TV on Monday quoted the Iranian Revolutionary Guards as threatening to open "new fronts" and keep the Strait of Hormuz closed if Israel continued more widespread attacks on Lebanon. "Iran considers crossing the red lines in Lebanon and Gaza to mean direct war," state TV quoted the Guards' intelligence organization as saying. According to the report, the IRGC unit said: "In return, it is determined to carry out defensive operations by taking meaningful actions and opening new fronts, in addition to preserving the Strait of Hormuz equation." Iranian state news agency Tasnim reported that "the Iranian negotiating team is suspending dialogues and exchange of texts through mediators," blaming Israeli actions in Lebanon. A military adviser to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamaenei, Mohsen Rezaee, said online that "the escalation of tensions in Lebanon will not be tolerated" and that Iran's "patience ... has a limit." Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said earlier on Monday that Iran considered Lebanon to be a component of the shaky ceasefire between the US and Iran. Iran's lead negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said earlier that Israel's escalation in Lebanon and the blockade on Iranian ports are "clear evidence of US noncompliance with the ceasefire." Israeli military reports death of 'unit commander in Hezbollah's missile array' The Israel Defense Forces say that strikes in southern Lebanon on Sunday killed "a unit commander in Hezbollah's missile array," identifying him as Mohammed Mouse Mteirek. According to the Israeli military, Mteirek was "in charge of advancing and executing hundreds of rocket and UAV [drone] launches towards Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers." In a slightly longer Hebrew-language post, the IDF said that Mteirek had been killed in a strike on Sunday in the Nabatieh area, not far north of the de facto border. This reported attack was therefore not part of the strikes on a southern suburb of Beirut that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz had warned of earlier on Monday — with no word of strikes around the capital from the Lebanese side as yet either. The original warnings were tied to continued strikes on northern Israel, with Katz saying there would be no "calm" in Beirut unless there was also calm in the Israeli border region. What to know if you're joining us now The US military on Monday said it bombed radar and drone sites in Iran after Tehran shot down an American drone over the weekend. Iran on Monday then targeted a US air base in retaliation, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said, without indentifying where the site was. Iran announced the news after Kuwait said it repelled drone and missile attacks, likely referring to the attack on Kuwait. The exchange of fire came as the two sides were working to figure out a potential agreement to bring an end to the fighting. But the text of the agreement is yet to be agreed on. Ceasefire also includes Lebanon — Iran's top diplomat Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said the ongoing ceasefire between the US and Iran means a halt in fighting on all fronts, including Lebanon. His comment comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered attacks on the southern suburbs of Beirut, where Hezbollah has control. "Violation on one front is a violation of the ceasefire on all fronts," Araghchi wrote on X. "The US and Israel are responsible for the consequences of any violation," he added. Tehran has been consistent in demanding that any ceasefire or peace deal with the US should stipulate an end to Israel's hostilities against the Iran-backed militia in Lebanon. Israel began its current offensive against Hezbollah after the paramilitary force carried out attacks on Israel in support of Iran amid the US-Israeli strikes on it launched at the end of February. Iran conducts more protest-related executions Iran has carried out two more death sentences over convictions connected with the mass anti-government protests in January, the judiciary's Mizan news agency reported. Two men, Mehdad Mohammadi-Nia and Ashkan Malek, were executed on Monday morning after being found guilty of acts including setting fire to a mosque, Mizan said. More than a dozen executions have so far been carried out in connection with the protests, which started at the end of December in response to the country's economic plight before mutating into an uprising against Iran's authoritarian regime. Iran is surpassed only by China in the number of people it executes each year. According to Amnesty International, at least 2,159 people were executed in Iran last year — the highest recorded figure since 1981. US violating ceasefire with naval blockade — top Iranian negotiator Top Iranian negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has said that the continued US naval blockade of Iran's ports and Israel's intensifying offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon show that Washington is not complying with the ceasefire. He wrote on X that "the naval blockade and escalation of war crimes in Lebanon" were "clear evidence of US noncompliance with the ceasefire." "Every choice has a price, and the bill comes due. It will all fall into place," he added. The US and Iran agreed a ceasefire that went into force on April 8 and has since been extended, but both sides have accused each other of violating the truce. The US began its naval blockade of Iranian ports on April 16 after talks between delegations from Washington and Tehran in Pakistan failed to produce a peace agreement. Iran has maintained its closure of the Strait of Hormuz — a major chokepoint for the transport of oil and gas — partly because of the blockade. It has also said a ceasefire in Lebanon, where Israel is continuing its military operations against the Iran-backed militia Hezbollah, is a prerequisite for any peace deal with the US. Lack of trust dogs diplomatic peace process — Iran's Foreign Ministry Iran's Foreign Ministry said on Monday that exchanges between Tehran and Washington on ending the US-Iran war were taking place under difficult conditions caused partly by contradictory messages coming from the US. "Negotiations have started amid severe suspicion and mistrust, and the exchange of messages is taking place in this atmosphere," Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said in a weekly press briefing. "The other party is constantly changing its views and putting forward new or contradictory demands (...) it is natural that this situation will prolong negotiations," he said. Bagaei also said "a ceasefire in Lebanon is an essential condition for any deal aimed at ending the war" as Israel continues its offensive against the Iran-backed militia Hezbollah. He said there were currently no negotiations with the US over Tehran's nuclear program. "We know when it is necessary to act on nuclear matters. No negotiations have taken place on the details of the nuclear file. At this stage, our priority is ending the war," he said. US President Donald Trump has repeatedly asserted that the US offensive against Iran has the main aim of stopping Iran from developing nuclear weapons, something Tehran has always denied as the purpose of its nuclear activities. Israel says orders strikes on southern Beirut suburb Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz on Monday said they had told Israel's military to carry out strikes on the Lebanese capital Beirut's southern suburbs. "In light of the repeated violations of the ceasefire in Lebanon by the terrorist organization Hezbollah and the attacks on our cities and citizens, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz have instructed the IDF to strike terror targets in the Dahiyeh district of Beirut," a joint statement said. Dahiyeh, a Shi'ite suburb known as a stronghold of Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militia, has come under Israeli attack several times in the past two decades. Israeli strikes and evacuation orders in Lebanon have displaced more than 1.2 million Lebanese since March 2, when Hezbollah began firing missiles and drones into Israel to support its ally Iran as it faced a US-Israeli offensive. The Israeli offensive has so far killed more than 3,370 people, according to the Lebanese government. Israel says more than 20 of its soldiers and four civilians have been killed over the same period. Tens of thousands of Israelis in the country's north have also been forced from their homes by Hezbollah rockets and drones. Security Council set for emergency meeting on Lebanon — diplomatic sources The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Monday on the conflict in Lebanon as Israeli forces move deep into the country during their offensive against the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia, diplomatic sources told the AFP news agency. The meeting has been requested by France, with President Emmanuel Macron saying "nothing justifies the major escalation under way in south Lebanon." Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Monday that his country was facing "a vicious and reprehensible Israeli aggression" after Israel captured the medieval Beaufort Castle, marking its deepest incursion into Lebanon in 26 years. The continued fighting in Lebanon comes despite a truce that began April 17 but has never brought any respite. Hezbollah has said it has targeted Israeli forces near Beaufort Castle as well as army positions and infrastructure in Shlomi and Nahariya in northern Israel. A US official said Secretary of State Marco Rubio had spoken to Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about ongoing diplomatic negotiations, asserting that Hezbollah must be the first to cease its attacks. The official said Rubio had proposed a plan to allow for "gradual de-escalation." Lebanon was dragged into the Middle East war on March 2 when Hezbollah fired rockets toward Israel in response to the US-Israeli killing of Iran's former supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Kuwait reports drone and missile fire Kuwait, which hosts a major US base, said on Monday it was intercepting incoming drone and missile fire, without giving details as to where it was coming from. Iran's paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has, however, said that it has targeted a US base in response to the US weekend strikes on Iranian military sites, making it seem likely that it is behind the Kuwait attacks. Gulf states have come under several attacks from Iran during the current conflict, with Tehran saying it is targeting the US military presence there. US bombed military sites in Iran on weekend — US military The US military said on Monday it had targeted radar and drone control sites in Iran over the weekend after Iranian forces shot down a US MQ-1 Predator drone. The US military's Central Command said it conducted the strikes in Iran around the city of Geruk and on Qeshm Island. "The measured and deliberate strikes occurred ... in response to aggressive Iranian actions that included the shootdown of a US MQ-1 drone that was operating over international waters," it said. "US fighter aircraft swiftly responded by eliminating Iranian air defenses, a ground control station, and two one-way attack drones that posed clear threats to ships transiting regional waters," it added. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had targeted an air base used by the US for an attack on southern Iran in response. It did not identify the base. The attacks come despite a weekslong ceasefire that has already been undermined by numerous military actions on both sides.