Main points
- Talks set to take place on Friday between the United States and Iran on implementing the 14-point agreement to end their war have been cancelled
- US vice-president JD Vance, who is leading negotiations for the Trump administration, had been due to travel to Switzerland to meet Iranian representatives
- At least 16 people have been killed in Israeli air strikes in southern Lebanon, with Hizbullah saying there is intense fighting in the area
- Israel’s far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has said “all of Lebanon must burn”
Key reads
- US officials reveal details of Iran agreement to halt war
- ‘A city of ghosts’: Grief and defiance in Lebanon’s shattered south
Lebanon is a ‘red line’ in negotiations - Iran
Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has said future talks with the US must respect Tehran’s “red lines” including an enduring ceasefire in Lebanon.
“As we have demonstrated throughout previous negotiations, we remain steadfast in respecting the established conditions and red lines, and in defending the interests of the Iranian nation,” Ghalibaf was quoted as saying by Iran’s official IRNA news agency.
“If the enemy becomes excessive [in its demands], we have proven that we are ready to retaliate and will not hesitate to deliver a stinging response,” he added.
No role in banning Iran opposition rally says French foreign ministry
France’s foreign ministry has denied it asked for the ban of an Iranian opposition rally that had been due to take place on Saturday in Paris.
The Paris-based NCRI said earlier in the day that the Paris police had banned their rally at the last minute and linked it to a call by France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araqchi yesterday.
“This allegation is false. The minister did not mention this protest or request its cancellation,” the ministry said in a statement sent to Reuters.
The Paris-based NCRI, political arm of the People’s Mujahideen Organisation of Iran, has held frequent rallies in the French capital over the years.
They have been attended by thousands of people, including high-profile former U.S., European and Arab officials critical of the Islamic Republic.
European stocks edge higher
European shares inched higher on Friday, aided by gains in energy and healthcare stocks as investors remained cautious after US-Iran negotiations to end the Middle conflict stalled.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index inched up 0.2 per cent by 9.40am on Friday, with Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 rising 0.3 per cent each, outperforming other regional markets.
Oil prices edged higher, helping drive European oil & energy stocks up 1.2 per cent. - Reuters
The IDF said it has launched a strike in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa valley against what it described as Hizbullah infrastructure and “in response to repeated violations of the ceasefire” by the Iran-backed group.
Itamar Ben-Gvir says ‘all of Lebanon must burn’
Reacting to news of four IDF soldiers being killed in southern Lebanon, Israel’s far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said “all of Lebanon must burn”.
Ben-Gvir said he told Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu that “for every tear of an Israeli mother, a thousand Lebanese mothers must weep”.
In a post on X, he said: “With all due respect to the Americans, Israel must make it clear to the entire world that the blood of our sons and the security of our citizens are not up for bargaining. All of Lebanon must burn.”
Ben-Gvir sparked diplomatic outrage last month after he shared footage of Israeli security forces abusing international activists, including Irish citizens. Ireland issued him with a travel ban following widespread condemnation of the video.
France wants to play role in talks about Iran’s nuclear programme
We have more details on those earlier comments from Jean-Noël Barrot, France’s foreign minister.
He said France wants to play a role in talks dealing with Iran’s nuclear programme and will not approve the lifting of UN sanctions unless it is satisfied by the terms of a final accord.
Barrot, whose country is a veto-wielding member of the United Nations Security Council, told broadcaster FranceInfo there would be no stability in the region unless US talks with Iran also dealt with Iran’s ballistic missile programme and support for proxies.
“The return for major concessions that will be asked of Iran is the lifting of sanctions, sanctions that were taken at the United Nations,” he said.
“France is a permanent member of the United Nations (Security Council) so, as was the case 10 years ago, France will have to give its approval for the sanctions to be lifted.”
The agreement reached between the United States and Iran this week calls for negotiations over Iran’s nuclear programme to take place over the next 60 days, with a final deal to be endorsed by the Security Council.
Barrot also advised people not to read too much into today’s talks in Switzerland being postponed, saying: “The hardest part remains to be done, but let’s not overinterpret the postponement of meetings, given that this [US-Iran] agreement has been signed.” - Reuters & The Guardian
Eurozone bond yields rise as Iran talks cancelled
Eurozone government bond yields rose on Friday as oil prices ticked higher after US-Iran peace talks in Switzerland were abruptly called off and as European Central Bank policymakers talked tough on inflation.
Germany’s 10-year bond yield, the benchmark for the bloc, rose three basis points to 2.955 per cent, having fallen to a more than two-month low of 2.915 per cent on Wednesday. Yields move inversely to prices.
Oil prices were up just under 1 per cent after Switzerland said US talks with Iranian negotiators on a pact to end the Middle East conflict would not take place on Friday.
Brent and US crude prices have fallen sharply since the US and Iran reached a tentative agreement to end their war at the weekend but doubts remain about the longevity of the deal, which faces opposition from some US Republicans and many in Israel. - Reuters
Normal shipping will not resume in Strait of Hormuz until 80 mines cleared
The centre of the Strait of Hormuz is blocked with about 80 mines that will need clearing for normal shipping to resume, the independent tanker owner trade body has said.
Several vessels began to exit the Gulf through the key maritime chokepoint on Thursday, after the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran.
However, shipping is not expected to return to normal for some time, even if the ceasefire lasts, because of the mines and other obstacles, underlining the continuing challenges facing global trade.
“The main route … through the middle of the Strait of Hormuz, that’s closed, that’s dangerous,” said Phil Belcher, marine director at Intertanko, the association of independent tanker owners.
“The latest figure we had was that there’s 80 mines in the Strait of Hormuz. It’s an enormous amount and it’s going to take some time to clear.” - The Guardian
No UN sanctions lifting on Iran without France’s approval, foreign minister says
France will not approve the lifting of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) sanctions on Iran unless it is satisfied that talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme meet its expectations, its foreign minister said on Friday.
Jean-Noël Barrot, whose country is a veto-wielding member of the UNSC, said there would be no stability in the region unless US talks with Iran resolved questions around Iran’s ballistic missile programme and support for proxies.
“We need a radical change of posture by Iran,” he said. - Reuters
The IDF said four of its soldiers were killed in southern Lebanon as fighting intensified between the Israeli military and Hizbullah.
Price of oil drops to €70 per barrel
The price of oil is headed for a substantial weekly drop as the Strait of Hormuz starts to return to normal. However, the stalled signing of the US-Iran deal may negatively impact prices.
Global benchmark Brent steadied at about $80 (€70) a barrel, down more than 8 per cent this week, Bloomberg reports.
On Thursday, vessels carrying nearly 10 million barrels of oil either appeared outside the strait or were sailing through, including the first Saudi-owned tankers since the conflict began more than three months ago.
In peacetime, Hormuz used to see daily transits of oil and products totaling about 20 million barrels, according to the International Energy Agency.
At least 16 people killed in Lebanon
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency has said at least 16 people have been killed in the Israeli air strikes in southern Lebanon, which Israel’s military said were ongoing, while Hizbullah said there was intense fighting in the area.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards ‘set up covert Iraqi cells to attack Gulf neighbours’
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has set up secretive new cells in Iraq to carry out attacks on Gulf countries that host American forces, bypassing established militia networks to avoid detection, eight Iraqi sources said.
Three or four cells, each comprising about 10 elite Iraqi Shi’ite Muslim fighters, launched at least seven drone attacks from desert locations near the southern cities of Basra and Samawa against sites in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates between April 20th and May 17th, three of the sources said.
A number of their members were drawn from Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of hardline Shi’ite factions with thousands of fighters. But the new groups operate outside its command structure, reporting directly to the IRGC, according to the sources, who include two Iraqi military officials, another security official and five local militia commanders.
The establishment of the new Iraqi cells, which has not previously been reported, reflects a shift in IRGC tactics aimed at preserving Iran’s ability to project force across the region at a time when its armed proxy groups are greatly diminished and its own military and economic resources are depleted, the five militia commanders said. - Reuters
Trump is ‘Israel’s only powerful ally left’
JD Vance has sharply rebuked Israeli government critics of the US deal with Iran, saying the cabinet members should remember that two-thirds of the defensive weapons that have protected Israel “have been built by American hands and paid for by American tax dollars”.
The US vice-president, asked about a report that Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu was fuming over the agreement, told reporters at the White House: “If I was in the cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world.”
The US provides Israel about $4 billion (€3.5 billion) in military assistance a year.
“The problem for Israel is not Donald J Trump, and anybody in Israel who thinks their biggest problem is the president of the United States needs to wake up and smell the reality of the situation that country is in,” the US vice-president said.
He was defending the deal to end the war with Iran that critics in the US and Israel have denounced for failing to curb Iran’s missile programme and providing no clear path to dismantling its nuclear facilities, while constraining Israel in its war with Hizbullah in Lebanon.
US critical of Israeli operations against Hizbullah
JD Vance has said Israel needed to respect the peace process.
“What the president has grown frustrated with at times, is that we seem to be right on the cusp of a major breakthrough in the agreement, and then all of a sudden, there’s a major explosion that goes off in a civilian population centre in Beirut, and a lot of people who have nothing to do with Hizbullah lose their lives,” Vance told reporters on Thursday, adding that such actions were “not acceptable”.
On Friday, Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned against any breach of the agreement, saying: “In case of misconduct, breach of treaty and excess of the other side, we have no doubt that decisive respond will be given to the enemy.”
The diplomatic back-and-forth over the planned talks adds to the uncertainty over whether a lasting truce can be found to a regional war that has killed at least 7,000 people, sent energy prices soaring and shaken global markets.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei on Thursday said Trump had signed the deal “out of desperation” and signalled that upcoming talks would not be easy.
“If the American side wants to be too demanding, we will not accept it,” he said in a written message.
The deal gives negotiators 60 days to reach agreement on the status of Iran’s nuclear programme unless both sides agree to an extension, and set up a $300 billion (€262 billion) reconstruction fund for Iran and other financial incentives. - The Guardian
Israel pledges to continue attacks in Lebanon
The Israeli military said it carried out strikes overnight and continued attacking what it described as Hizbullah militants and infrastructure in several areas in southern Lebanon, adding that the attacks were in response to repeated violations of the ceasefire by the Iran-backed group.
Hizbullah said on Friday that its fighters destroyed three Israeli tanks in the country’s south and that clashes were “ongoing”. Israel had not confirmed its tanks were hit.
Hizbullah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war in March by attacking Israel, in what it said was revenge for the killing of Iran’s supreme leader by the US and Israel.
The MOU calls for the “permanent termination” of the war in Lebanon and for the country’s “territorial integrity and sovereignty” to be ensured. US president Donald Trump has said he expects a complete ceasefire on all fronts.
The government of Binyamin Netanyahu has continued to stress that it has no intention of withdrawing from Lebanon, leading to open criticism from Trump and Vance of Israel’s operations.
Talks in Switzerland on ending Iran war cancelled
Talks set to take place on Friday between the United States and Iran on implementing the 14-point agreement to end their war have been cancelled, Switzerland’s foreign ministry has announced.
The talks were set to begin in the tiny Swiss village of Obbürgen on Friday, two days after the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that opened a 60-day window to negotiate a permanent understanding over Iran’s nuclear program, while getting oil traffic moving through the strait of Hormuz.
The White House said the US looked forward to “beginning technical talks as soon as possible”, as it announced that JD Vance, who is leading negotiations for the Trump administration, would now not be travelling.
The cancellation of the talks came after a report from Al-Mayadeen, an Arabic language network that is politically allied with the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hizbullah, said Tehran was delaying sending its delegation to Switzerland due to Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Lebanon.
Israel, which was not included in the peace talks and has distanced itself from the US-Iran agreement, has continued its fighting in Lebanon and launched fresh airstrikes early on Friday, accusing Hizbullah of violating the ceasefire. - The Guardian
