Trump says Tehran cannot ‘blackmail us’

Iran is not yet ready to hold a new round of face-to-face talks with the US because of Washington’s “maximalist” demands on key issues, said the Islamic Republic’s Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh.

“We are still not there yet to move on to an actual meeting because there are issues that the Americans have not yet abandoned their maximalist position,” Khatibzadeh said in an interview with the Associated Press news agency.

He also stressed that Tehran will not hand over its enriched uranium stockpile to the US, rejecting claims made by US President Donald Trump.

“I can tell you that no enriched material is going to be shipped to United States,” he underlined. “This is non-starter and I can assure you that while we are ready to address any concerns that we do have, we’re not going to accept things that are nonstarters.”

The minister also emphasized that “the other sides should understand and address our main concerns,” but did not specify which issues remain unresolved.

He said Iran was seeking the finalization of a “framework agreement” before moving to an in-person meeting.

The German government has condemned an attack on a UN peacekeeping force mission (UNIFIL) in Lebanon that left a French peacekeeper dead and three wounded, two of them seriously.

“Our heartfelt condolences go out to the family and friends of the fallen soldier,” the German Foreign Office said in a post on X.

It called for those responsible for the attack to be held accountable.

The statement also demanded that the Iran-linked Shiite militant outfit Hezbollah lay down its weapons.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs said it called in the Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran in New Delhi after an incident in the Strait of Hormuz. 

“During the meeting, the Foreign Secretary conveyed India’s deep concern at the shooting incident earlier today involving two Indian-flagged ships in the Strait of Hormuz,” the statement from India said.  

“He noted the importance that India attached to the safety of merchant shipping and mariners and recalled that Iran had earlier facilitated the safe passage of several ships bound for India,” the statement continued. “Reiterating his concern at this serious incident of firing on merchant ships,  the Foreign Secretary urged the Ambassador to convey India’s views to the authorities in Iran and resume at the earliest the process of facilitating India-bound ships across the Strait.”

Iran’s top national security body said Saturday that the country was reviewing “new proposals” put forward by the US in recent days.

It stressed that Tehran would defend its interests and not make any compromises.

Iran’s negotiating delegation “will not make even the slightest compromise, retreat or leniency, and will defend with all its strength the interests of the Iranian nation,” the Supreme National Security Council said in a statement.

US President Donald Trump on Saturday warned Iran not to “blackmail” Washington by shutting the Strait of Hormuz once again.

“We’re talking to them. They wanted to close up the strait again — you know, as they’ve been doing for years — and they can’t blackmail us,” Trump said at a White House event.

His statement came after Tehran had earlier announced the closure of the strategic waterway — which connects the Persian Gulf to world markets and is key to global energy security — saying that the US’ continued blockade of Iranian ports and shipping violates the terms of the truce agreement reached by the warring parties.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations reported on the second attack on a vessel near the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, hours after Iran announced it was closing the strategic waterway yet again.

UKMTO said an unknown projectile hit the container vessel 25 nautical miles (46 kilometers) northeast of Oman, damaging some of its containers.

Earlier on Saturday, UKMTO reported that two gunboats from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard opened fire on a tanker transiting the strait.

UKMTO minutes later reported on a third incident 3 nautical miles east of Oman.

“The master of a cruise ship reported sighting a splash in close proximity of the vessel,” UKMTO said.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said on Saturday that its troops came under “small-arms fire from non-state actors” in southern Lebanon, killing one peacekeeper.

The attack occurred during a UNIFIL patrol clearing explosives along the road in the village of Ghandouriyeh, the UNIFIL statement said. Three more peacekeepers were injured, two of them seriously.

“UNIFIL condemns this deliberate attack on peacekeepers engaged in their mandated tasks,” UNIFIL said. “The work of explosive ordnance disposal teams is vital in the mission’s area of operations especially in the wake of the recent hostilities.”

The peacekeeping force launched its own probe into the incident, saying that “initial assessment indicates the fire came from non-state actors (allegedly Hezbollah).” 

“UNIFIL calls on the Government of Lebanon to swiftly initiate an investigation to identify and hold the perpetrators accountable for the crimes committed against UNIFIL peacekeepers,” it added.

French President Emmanuel Macron said that a French peacekeeper was killed in an attack against UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon Saturday, blaming Hezbollah for the attack.

“Everything suggests that responsibility for this attack lies with Hezbollah,” Macron said on X. “France demands that the Lebanese authorities immediately arrest the perpetrators and take their responsibilities alongside UNIFIL.”

Lebanon’s prime minister had condemned the attack and ordered a probe.

The Lebanese military, which also condemned the attack, said in a statement carried by the state news agency NNA that it was a result of “an exchange of fire with armed men.”

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun vowed in a phone call with Macron to prosecute those responsible for the attack.

No date has been set for the next round of Pakistan-brokered US-Iran peace talks, Iran’s deputy foreign minister told reporters on Saturday.

“Until we agree on the framework, we cannot set the date,” Saeed Khatibzadeh told journalists on the sidelines of an annual Turkish diplomatic forum in the southern province of Antalya.

“Now we are focusing on finalizing the framework of understanding between two sides. We don’t want to enter into any negotiation or meeting which is due to failure which can be [a] pretext for another round of escalation,” he added. 

The Iranian official stressed that Tehran “would not accept to be an exception from the international law” in any negotiations.

“Anything ​that we are going to be committed [to] will be ​within the international regulations and international law.”

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on Saturday condemned what he said was an attack on French United Nations peacekeepers in southern Lebanon.

“I condemn in the strongest terms today’s attack on members of the French battalion in UNIFIL,” Salam said on X, referring to the United Nations Interim Force (UNIFIL) in Lebanon.

He said he gave “strict instructions for an immediate investigation to uncover the circumstances of this attack and hold the perpetrators accountable.”

A UNIFIL spokesperson told the French AFP news agency that an incident involving their peacekeepers took place in the southern municipality of Ghandouriyeh, stopping short of providing details regarding the nature of the attack or its casualties.

The Israeli military on Saturday announced it has killed people in Lebanon for crossing what it called a “yellow line,” the first such reference to a demarcation line in southern Lebanon since a 10-day ceasefire came into effect.

The “yellow line” in question seemed to mimic a similar one created after a ceasefire agreement which ended the 2-year war in Gaza last October. As per the agreement, Israeli forces were allowed to remain within that “yellow line” in Gaza for at least the first phase of the ceasefire.

However, the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon initially made no mention of such a line.

“Over the past 24 hours, [Israeli military] forces operating south of the Yellow Line in southern Lebanon identified terrorists who violated the ceasefire understandings and approached the forces from north of the Yellow Line in a manner that posed an immediate threat,” the military said on X.

Iran’s supreme leader has warned that the country’s navy was ready to defeat US forces.

Mojtaba Khamenei said in a statement carried on his Telegram channel that Iran’s “brave navy stands ready to make the enemies taste the bitterness of new defeats.”

The statement was issued after a short reprieve was soon interrupted when Iranonce more shuttered the strategic Strait of Hormuz after a brief reopening, accusing the US of violating the ceasefire agreement by maintaining its blockade on Iranian ports.

Iran’s new supreme leader, appointed following the killing of his father Ali Khamenei in a joint US-Israeli strike which sparked the war, has yet to be seen in public since he assumed the top position in the country.

Iranian gunboats have fired on a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, hours after the Iranian military apparently reversed a decision to reopen the critical waterway.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) center said on Saturday that it had received a report that “two gunboats linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard” fired at the tanker some 20 nautical miles northeast of Oman.

The firing was not preceded by a radio challenge, UKMTO cited the tanker’s captain as saying. The vessel and its crew were reported safe.

Earlier reports suggested that several ships were able to pass through the strait in the brief window Iran kept it open since Friday.

Egypt is working closely with mediators including Pakistan, Turkey and Saudi Arabia to de-escalate the crisis and reach lasting peace between the United States and Iran, its foreign minister said on Saturday.

In statements on the sidelines of a forum in Turkey’s costal city of Antalya on Saturday, Egyptian top diplomat Badr Abdelatty said Cairo and Islamabad were working “very hard” to deliver a “final agreement between the US and Iran.”

“We hope to do so [reach an agreement] in the coming days,” Abdelatty said, noting that “not only us in the region, but the whole world is suffering from the continuation of this war.”

In a Foreign Ministry statement, Abdelatty said Egypt, Turkey, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia were coordinating a broader regional effort focused on preventing renewed escalation and paving the way for a post-war security agreement.

Abdelatty had met with counterparts from the three other countries during the Antalya forum on Friday.

He said the meeting heads discussed means of containing the repercussions of the war on international maritime traffic, food and regional security, fuel prices and means of overcoming these issues and their impact on the global economy.

Moscow on Saturday welcomed the Trump administration’s decision to issue another temporary sanctions waiver for Russian oil, as the global oil market remains exceedingly turbulent.

“Many countries, including the US, understand the crucial and systemic importance of Russian oil and gas for the stability of world markets,” Kirill Dmitriev, the Kremlin’s envoy for foreign economic relations, wrote on Telegram.

Western countries have largely maintained sanctions imposed on Russia over three years ago over its invasion of Ukraine, with most countries seeking an alternative source for their energy supplies.

But Washington decided on the waiver after its joint attacks on Iran, carried out alongside Israel, prompted the Islamic republic to close the critical Strait of Hormuz, creating a massive global energy crisis.