US and Iran Exchange Fire as Talks Stall

The United States and Iran announced on Monday that they had exchanged strikes once again, further straining an already fragile ceasefire as talks between the two sides have stalled.

Weeks of complex negotiations, marked by sharp rhetoric and sporadic flare‑ups of violence, have failed to produce a deal to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for global oil supplies.

Washington and Tehran remain sharply divided on issues such as Iran’s nuclear program and the fighting in Lebanon, the latter of which Iran insists must cease as part of any broader agreement.

The latest exchange of fire coincided with Israel expanding its offensive in Lebanon, with Prime Minister Netanyahu pledging to push deeper into the country.

The U.S. military said it had carried out “self‑defense strikes” on Iranian radar and drone control sites in the southern part of the country over the weekend – its third such wave in just over a week.

The strikes were a response to the downing of a U.S. MQ‑1 drone, the military added.

Shortly after, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards announced that they had targeted an “air base from which the attack originated” used by the U.S. military, as reported by state broadcaster IRIB on Monday, without specifying the base’s location.

The Guards’ announcement followed a statement from the Kuwaiti military that its air defenses had intercepted “hostile missile and drone attacks,” again without indicating the source of the attack.

– Sticking points –

Iran was already in talks with the United States about the fate of its nuclear program in February when the U.S. and Israel launched air and missile strikes that eliminated much of the Islamic Republic’s senior leadership.

While Tehran insists its nuclear program is for purely civilian purposes, the United States and its Western allies suspect it is aimed at developing a weapon.

The New York Times and Axios reported on Saturday that President Trump had sent back a “tougher” new framework for consideration by Iran, though details remain unclear.

Trump has said his priorities include preventing Iran from developing any nuclear weapon and reopening the Hormuz shipping lane, which Iran has blockaded since the war began.

“The one guarantee that I have to have is that there will be no nuclear weapons. They’ve agreed to that, and it was very interesting,” he told his daughter‑in‑law Lara Trump in an interview on her Fox News show.

Late Sunday, Trump stressed on Truth Social that the proposed deal “states, very clearly, that Iran will not have a Nuclear Weapon.”

Tehran, however, has previously cast doubt on Trump’s assertions and the sides remain far apart on key issues.

“We will not approve any agreement until we are certain that the rights of the Iranian people have been upheld,” Iran’s top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said in a video broadcast on state television.

According to the Tasnim news agency, exchanges on the text “are ongoing, with both parties regularly proposing amendments.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that “until a clear conclusion is reached… everything that is being said now is speculation,” according to state TV.

Iran has said it needs the release of $12 billion in frozen assets before it will engage in substantive talks on its nuclear program, dismissing earlier Trump comments that its enriched uranium stockpile would be destroyed as “baseless,” according to Iranian media.

Trump is under pressure to secure a deal that would lift competing U.S. and Iranian blockades around the Strait of Hormuz that have strangled a vital route for global oil supplies.

After Trump said Iran would charge “no tolls” on ships passing through the strait under any deal, Iranian news agency Fars cited sources saying “no such clause” existed.

Iran’s ISNA news agency on Saturday quoted lawmaker Alireza Salimi as saying a plan for Iranian “management and sovereignty” over the strait – including imposing “administrative fees” – would soon go before parliament.

– Lebanon front –

Tehran has insisted that any peace deal include Lebanon, where fierce fighting continues, with Beirut accusing Israel of pursuing a “scorched‑earth policy” as it expands operations against Iran‑backed Hezbollah.

A truce between Israel and Hezbollah formally began on April 17 but it has never been observed, with both sides accusing each other of violating it.

An Israeli strike in southern Lebanon killed eight people on Sunday, including three women, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting Monday on the widening Israeli offensive following its capture of the strategic medieval castle of Beaufort, diplomatic sources told AFP.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the retaking of Beaufort “a dramatic shift.”

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