U.S. President Donald Trump extended his deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, saying the U.S. will hold off striking Iranian power plants for five more days.
Trump said U.S. envoys have been holding talks with a “respected” Iranian leader, and Iran wants “to make a deal.” Iranian officials denied any such negotiations, and declared that the American leader had backed down “following Iran’s firm warning.”
Relief ripped through financial markets Monday as oil prices eased following severe losses prior to Trump’s announcement. Financial markets have had vicious swings, both up and down, since the war began because of uncertainty about how long it may last.
Trump also said the U.S. would seek to retrieve Iran’s enriched uranium and end its nuclear program as part of a deal, telling reporters: “We want to see no nuclear bomb, no nuclear weapon. Not even close to it.”
The death toll has risen to more than 1,500 people in Iran, more than 1,000 in Lebanon, 15 in Israel and 13 U.S. military members, as well as a number of civilians on land and sea in the Gulf region. Millions of people in Lebanon and Iran have been displaced.
Here is the latest:
Stocks rally and oil sinks after Trump hints at a possible end to the war, even as Iran denies talks
A cautious relief swept through financial markets after Trump said the U.S. has talked with Iran about a possible end to the war.
Oil prices eased Monday, and stock prices jumped on Wall Street following severe losses taken elsewhere in the world before Trump’s announcement.
The S&P 500 rallied 1.1% for its best day since the war began. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.4%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 1.4%.
Brent crude fell back below $100 per barrel.
But the moves were even sharper in the morning, before Iranian officials denied that talks were underway.
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What we know about Iran’s uranium stockpile
The International Atomic Energy Agency estimates Iran had 440.9 kilograms (972 pounds) of highly enriched uranium as of June 13, 2025.
Iran has already done 99% of the centrifuge work needed to enrich its stockpile of highly enriched uranium to weapons grade, and may have enough uranium for about nine bombs, said Robert Goldston, a Princeton University professor and a researcher in arms control and fusion energy.
If further enriched, Iran’s uranium could yield material for roughly nine nuclear weapons according to IAEA calculations, Goldston said.
Goldston said Iran may have the centrifuge capacity to produce enough weapons-grade uranium for one bomb about every month. The IAEA has not fully monitored Iran’s centrifuge manufacturing since 2021.
“That’s something we should be worried about,” he said.
Goldston added it would be “well worth it” for the United States to negotiate removing or down-blending the highly enriched uranium.
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A Gulf diplomat also says Egypt and Turkey are leading de-escalation efforts
“For now, it appears they managed to avert an energy catastrophe” that would result if Trump attacked Iran’s energy facilities and Iran responded, said the Gulf diplomat.
An Egyptian official has also told The Associated Press that the U.S. and Iran exchanged messages through Egypt, Turkey and Pakistan over the weekend.
Both officials were not authorized to speak with journalists and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Small comforts fade and big worries grow as fuel prices surge globally
A birthday beach trip. Weekend jaunts with the kids. Even a bedtime beer.
As gas prices remain high, people are stretching their paychecks, giving up small comforts as everyday costs bloat and they try to keep up with their biggest bills.
“For now, we’re still managing to hold on,” said Luis Catalano, a taxi driver waiting to fuel up at a gas station in Buenos Aires, Argentina. “But I don’t know for how long.”
Around the globe, it seems many can agree that the spike in gas is just the latest blow for average people who’ve grown accustomed to relentless high costs.
“Everything is going up,” said Felicia Iwasa, of Lagos, Nigeria. “The economy is not easy for us.”
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Iran war commander-in-chief goes Graceland
The president, who has often compared himself to Elvis Presley, said during an appearance in Tennessee on Monday that he’d be visiting the home of the King of Rock and Roll. “I love Elvis,” he declared.
Trump’s side trip to a top tourist attraction presents a stark contrast to the domestic and international issues Trump spoke about at the the beginning of his remarks in Memphis.
Although Trump noted that he had ordered a “temporary” halt to planned strikes on Iranian power plants, American forces are still embroiled in the sprawling regional conflict, in which at least 13 U.S. service members have been killed.
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Israeli leader says attacks on Iran and Lebanon won't stop
Netanyahu says Israel will continue to strike Iran and Lebanon as the U.S. considers a ceasefire.
Netanyahu says he spoke to Trump, who told him “there is a chance” to leverage battlefield gains into an agreement that realizes the war's objectives.
“At the same time, we continue to strike, both in Iran and in Lebanon,” he said. “There’s more to come. We will protect our vital interests in any situation.”
Senior Israeli Cabinet minister says Israel should annex southern Lebanon
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says the war against Hezbollah must end with a “fundamental change” that includes control of Lebanon up to the Litani River, roughly 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of the Israeli border.
“The Litani must be our new border with the state of Lebanon,” he told members of his Religious Zionism party on Monday, comparing it to boundaries Israel has set in Gaza and the Golan Heights.
Israel already has sent thousands of troops into southern Lebanon as it moves to push Hezbollah militants north. Smotrich leads a small ultranationalist party and is a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s policy-making Security Cabinet.
British authorities investigate claim of responsibility for Jewish ambulance attack
Four Jewish charity ambulances were set afire Monday in London. British police said they are investigating it as an antisemitic hate crime while detectives work to determine the authenticity of a claim of responsibility from a group with alleged links to Iran.
Although it has not been classified as a terrorist incident, counterterror officers are leading the investigation. No one was injured in the nighttime attack, which left the vehicles charred shells.
A video posted on Telegram, allegedly by an Islamist group called Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, showed a map of the location and video of the ambulances on fire. A group using the same name previously claimed responsibility for synagogue attacks in Belgium and the Netherlands.
“Establishing the accuracy of this claim is a priority for the investigating team,” Security Minister Dan Jarvis said.
Israel’s government has called it a recently founded group with suspected links to pro-Iran networks.
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Iranian and Pakistani foreign ministers speak
During Monday’s phone call, Pakistan’s top diplomat emphasized the importance of dialogue and diplomacy in promoting “peace, security and stability in the region and beyond” according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
US and Iran exchanged ‘messages’ through regional mediators, official says
Washington and Tehran exchanged the “messages” over the weekend through Egypt, Turkey and Pakistan, an Egyptian official said.
The exchanges aimed at averting strikes on energy infrastructure in Iran and the wider region, he said.
“This is the top priority now,” said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
— By Samy Magdy
US defense secretary wants more ships. US shipbuilders want higher wages
Pete Hegseth touted the need to boost defense manufacturing during a morale-boosting appearance last month at one of the U.S. Navy’s largest shipbuilding contractors. Now 627 designers, clerks and technicians at General Dynamics Bath Iron Works have gone on strike, just as the U.S. intensifies its war effort in Iran.
They voted to reject the shipyard’s proposed wage offer of 10.1% in the first year followed by 4% in each of the following three years.
General Dynamics “continues to make record profits off our labor,” union President Trent Vellella said in a statement. “We had hoped the company took to heart the statements made by Secretary Hegseth here at GD BIW on February 9th because, our membership certainly did.”
General Dynamics said it will continue operations at the shipyard, which has built naval ships for more than a century. Its total workforce is about 6,800.
UK summons Iran envoy over after 2 men charged with spying
Britain summoned Iran’s ambassador, Seyed Ali Mousavi, to protest what it called Tehran’s “reckless and destabilising actions” after two men were charged last week with spying on London’s Jewish community on behalf of Iran.
The Foreign Office said the U.K. takes threats from Iran and its proxies “extremely seriously.”
Trump says Iran ‘means business’ in peace talks even as Iranian officials deny negotiations
Trump said his administration has been negotiating with Iran “for a long time” and he believes a deal is close. But he didn't clarify who's been involved in the talks. Iran's parliament speaker and foreign minister denied again Monday that any such negotiations have happened.
“They want peace,” Trump said. “They’ve agreed they will not have a nuclear weapon, you know, et cetera, et cetera, but we’ll see.”
In his remarks in Memphis on Monday, Trump said there’s a “very good chance” of a deal this week. He credited his threat to blow up Iranian power plants, which he then paused for another five days. “Then we’re going to see where that takes us,” he said.
Pakistan and Turkey discuss Iran war de-escalation
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said its top diplomat Ishaq Dar spoke with his Turkish counterpart on Monday, urging continued diplomacy as Islamabad steps up its outreach in the region.
Saudi Arabia and nuclear-armed Pakistan signed a mutual defense pact last year saying any attack on either nation is an attack on both.
Regional heavyweights Turkey and Egypt speak to warring parties in first sign of coordinated mediation
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he spoke by phone with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan. Turkey has been an intermediary in past talks between Tehran and Washington.
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry declined to comment Monday on whether the country had relayed messages between Iran and the U.S. on Sunday, Turkish officials said Fidan had also spoken to his counterparts from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Egypt, and the European Union, as well as with U.S. officials as part of efforts to end the war.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said Cairo has delivered “clear messages” to Iran focusing on de-escalating the conflict, according to his office. Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said it was making “constant efforts and communications” with all parties.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Monday that the U.K. was ware of talks between the U.S. and Iran, but told British lawmakers “we mustn’t fall into the false comfort of thinking that there will necessarily be a quick and early end to this.”
Red Cross chief warns that striking civilian infrastructure risks war crimes
Without naming specific countries, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Mirjana Spoljaric, said in a statement that “deliberate attacks on essential services and civilian infrastructure can amount to war crimes.”
She said the trend isn’t unique to the region or the current war, “but what we have seen in recent days in the Middle East risks reaching a point of no return.”
Earlier Monday, Jamal Abdi, head of the National Iranian American Council, said Trump “threatening to bomb Iran’s power plants is a threat to millions of civilians.”
“This is not a ‘targeted’ strike. This is collective punishment,” Abdi said.
Death toll in Lebanon reaches 1,039
The Lebanese Health Ministry said Monday that 10 people had been killed over the past 24 hours.
At least 118 children and 79 women were among those killed by Israeli strikes in Lebanon since the outbreak of a new Israel-Hezbollah war, the ministry said.
The ministry said 90 more people were also wounded, raising the total number of injured to at least 2,876.
Iran built a vast camera network to control dissent. Israel turned it into a targeting tool
The role of Israel’s hijacking of Iran’s street cameras in the killing of the country’s supreme leader shows how surveillance systems are increasingly being used for targeting in wartime.
Hundreds of millions of internet-connected and poorly secured cameras have been installed above shops, in homes and on street corners across the world. Artificial intelligence now enables militaries and intelligence agencies to search through vast amounts of data to identify targets.
On Feb. 28, Israel vividly demonstrated the potential by locating Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei despite repeated warnings that Iran’s surveillance systems had been compromised, according to interviews and an Associated Press review of leaked data, public statements and news reports.
The use of hacked surveillance cameras among other intelligence to kill Khamenei was described to the AP by an intelligence official with knowledge of the operation and another person who was briefed on the operation. Neither was authorized to speak with the media and both shared information on condition of anonymity.
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Top EU diplomat says Trump’s halt on striking Iran energy is ‘very welcome’
“I think any attacks on infrastructure are causing chaos in the region and really escalating this war even further,” European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said at a news conference in Nigeria.
Surging energy prices have pushed EU leaders to consider cost-cutting steps, including expanding renewables, adjusting taxes, pursuing new trade deals and scrapping carbon credits.
Wright says oil prices have not risen high enough to trigger a significant drop in demand
Energy Secretary Chris Wright says disruptions in the global oil market are “temporary” and says price hikes caused by the Iran war are not yet steep enough to trigger a significant drop in demand.
“Prices have not risen high enough yet to drive meaningful demand destruction,” Wright said at the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston.
Oil prices have climbed to more than $100 a barrel and U.S. gasoline prices surged to nearly $4 a gallon. But Wright said “pragmatic solutions” to release oil from a strategic reserve and allow sanctioned oil already in transit to enter the market should help mitigate the price shocks.
He said Asia has been the most deeply affected by the supply disruptions.
International Energy Agency leader says global economy faces ‘major, major threat’
Forty energy assets in nine countries have been “severely or very severely damaged,” Fatih Birol told Australia’s National Press Club on Monday. “No country will be immune to the effects of this crisis if it continues to go in this direction.”
The oil crises of 1973 and 1979 together lost 10 million barrels per day, causing “major economic problems around the world, the recessions. And today, only as of today, we lost 11 million barrels per day,” he said.
After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, gas markets lost about 75 billion cubic meters, and have now lost about 140 BCM as a result of this crisis, he added.
The IEA released a historic 400 million barrels of stockpiled oil “to comfort the markets,” and is consulting with governments in Europe, Asia, North America and the Middle East about releasing more, he said.
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UK warship, US carrier remain docked in Greece
The U.K.’s air defense destroyer HMS Dragon was docked at Greece’s Souda Bay naval base, en route to help defend British military bases in Cyprus from Iranian drone or missile attacks.
The ship departed the U.K. on March 3, two days after an apparent Iranian drone launched from Lebanon struck the RAF Akrotiri air base, causing minor damage to an aircraft hangar. No timeline was given for HMS Dragon’s arrival off Cyprus. Reports suggest it had to complete trainings before deployment.
Meanwhile, the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier remains docked at the same naval base in Greece, 10 days after the military said it had a “not combat-related” fire while operating in the Red Sea. Its departure meant the U.S. has only one aircraft carrier supporting operations against Iran.
Trump stresses that he believes Iran wants a deal ‘very badly’
“All I’m saying is, we are in the throes of a real possibility of making a deal,” Trump said as he wrapped his extended exchange with reporters before boarding Air Force One.
“And I think, if I were a betting man I’d bet for it. But again, I’m not guaranteeing anything,” he said.
More from Trump on Iran’s nuclear program
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Trump said the U.S. would retrieve Iran’s enriched uranium as part of a potential agreement with the Islamic Republic.
“It’s very easy, if we have a deal with them, we’re going down and we’ll take it ourselves,” Trump said as he departed from a weekend in Florida.
Trump said any deal with Iran would include ending the country’s nuclear capabilities.
“We want to see, no nuclear bomb, no nuclear weapon. Not even close to it,” he said.
Trump claims US has been holding talks with a ‘respected’ Iranian leader
Trump told reporters Monday his Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner conducted talks Sunday into the evening.
He said talks would continue today.
Trump did not name any official or officials representing Tehran. Trump said the U.S. has not talked to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei.
Trump said if a deal is reached with Iran, the U.S. will move to take Iran’s enriched uranium critical to its disputed nuclear program.
UN peacekeepers say their headquarters in Lebanon was struck
The U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, said Monday that a building at its headquarters in the coastal town of Naqoura was struck by a projectile. The U.N. said it believes it “was fired by a non-state actor,” an apparent reference to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
Hezbollah and Israeli forces have fought at multiple points along the border since Israel launched a renewed ground incursion into southern Lebanon. The UNIFIL statement said that “over the past 48 hours, peacekeepers have recorded intense gunfire and explosions” in the Naqoura area, and “bullets, fragments, and shrapnel have hit buildings and open areas inside our headquarters. ... As a result, peacekeepers have been restricted to shelters to avoid injury.”
UNIFIL spokesperson Kandice Ardiel said peacekeepers have also observed or heard ground combat around the villages of Khiam, Odaisseh, Mays al-Jabal, Markaba and Taybeh.
Russia will evacuate more personnel from Iran’s nuclear plant
The head of Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom said Monday it will evacuate more workers from Iran’s Russia-built nuclear power plant but will also keep some.
Alexei Likhachev, who said last week that Rosatom had 480 workers at the plant in Bushehr, announced that evacuations this week will leave just a few dozen Rosatom workers at the plant.
Last week, Likhachev reported a strike hit close to the working nuclear reactor without causing damage or injuries. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Russia had urged the U.S. to avoid hitting the plant, warning it could trigger “irreparable” consequences.
2 Iranian news agencies close to Revolutionary Guard claim no negotiations between Tehran and US
Two Iranian semiofficial news agencies close to the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard claimed that there had been no negotiations — direct or indirect — with Washington as described by Trump.
The Fars and Tasnim news agencies instead portrayed the American president as backing down due to Iran’s threats.
“Since the start of the war, messages have been sent to Tehran by some mediators, but Iran’s clear response has been that it will continue its defense until the required level of deterrence is achieved,” Tasnim’s report said. “No negotiations have taken place and none are underway. ... With this kind of psychological warfare, neither the Strait of Hormuz will return to prewar conditions nor will calm return to energy markets.”
Trump’s postponement of Strait of Hormuz deadline is latest switch
Trump’s announcement of “productive conversations” with Iran and the postponement of a deadline for the country to reopen the strait is only the latest shift from a leader who has often been contradictory in his objectives.
Trump’s post on his Truth Social platform Monday said he would hold off on strikes for five days amid talks with Iran, roughly 12 hours ahead of the previous deadline he had set.
The president sometimes contradicts himself in the same speech, social media post or even sentence. His mixed signals about the Iran war Friday raised more questions about his administration’s strategy.
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