Fighting as Israel invades southern Lebanon killed U.N. peacekeepers and Israeli soldiers, officials said Tuesday, as U.S. President Donald Trump and Iranian officials issued contradictory statements about negotiations to end their war.
Israel is trying to push Hezbollah militants, who have fired rockets and drones across the border, out of southern Lebanon in a campaign that Israeli officials suggest could become a prolonged occupation.
The U.N. Security
Council is set to discuss the situation after three U.N. peacekeepers were killed in southern Lebanon in less than 24 hours, although it’s not clear who was responsible. Israel said early Tuesday that another four of its soldiers had been killed in the offensive.
U.S. President Donald Trump said the U.S. is negotiating with Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, in an interview with the New York Post published Monday. The former Revolutionary Guard commander was previously floated as Washington’s negotiating partner, but has denied Iran is talking to the U.S. and said Pakistan-facilitated discussions were merely a cover for American troop deployments.
Trump also threatened widespread destruction of Iran’s energy resources and other vital infrastructure, including desalination plants, if a deal to end the war with Tehran is not reached “shortly.”
U.S. stocks edged higher in shaky trading Monday as oil prices keep climbing because of uncertainty about when the war could end.
Here is the latest:
Iran’s foreign minister early Tuesday insisted that Tehran’s attacks on the Gulf Arab states only target U.S. forces, even after assaults have hit civilian targets throughout the region.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s comments, addressed to Saudi Arabia, come as growing Gulf Arab anger has those states encouraging America to continue to prosecute the war.
“Iran respects the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and considers it a brotherly nation,” Araghchi wrote on X, sharing a photo purportedly showing damage to an American aircraft at Prince Sultan Air Base in the kingdom. “Our operations are aimed at enemy aggressors who have no respect for Arabs or Iranians, nor can provide any security. ... High time to eject U.S. forces.”
