West Asia Conflict LIVE: US House Of Representatives Votes To Limit Trump's War Powers In Iran

The U.N. nuclear watchdog has been unable to inspect nuclear facilities in Iran affected by the war last June according to a confidential report by the U.N. nuclear watchdog circulated to member states and seen Thursday by The Associated Press.

The International Atomic Energy Agency reported that it “cannot provide any information on the current size, composition or whereabouts of the stockpile of enriched uranium in Iran or whether Iran has suspended all enrichment-related activities.”

The IAEA warned that it was “unable to discharge its safeguards responsibilities” that it has under the Safeguards Agreement of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, adding that it is “indispensable and urgent” for Tehran to implement its obligations under that Treaty.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said on Thursday that the army would begin deploying in "pilot zones" in the country's south, a day after Israel and Lebanon agreed in Washington to implement a ceasefire.

"The next step is practical and tangible: the deployment of the Lebanese army in pilot zones as a first phase," Salam said, according to remarks read out by Information Minister Paul Morcos after a cabinet meeting, adding that "this does not prejudice our right to a full (Israeli) withdrawal, but brings us closer to it".

According to a joint statement released after the Washington talks that Hezbollah has rejected, Israel and Lebanon agreed to create "pilot zones" in south Lebanon where the Lebanese army forces "will take exclusive control of the territory to the exclusion of all non-state actors."

A Hezbollah official told AFP on Thursday that the group had informed Lebanese authorities that it rejects a ceasefire announced after Israel-Lebanon talks in Washington a day earlier.

The official said on condition of anonymity that the position, which was announced by Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem in a televised message, was passed on "to parliament speaker Nabih Berri", a Hezbollah ally acting as an intermediary who "shares this position".

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun had said earlier Thursday he was waiting for Hezbollah's response.

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem on Thursday demanded a comprehensive ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon, urging authorities to abandon direct talks with Israel after a truce agreement was announced.

"The ceasefire must be comprehensive... without the Israeli enemy having the freedom to kill," Qassem said in a televised message, urging the government to halt "the farce and humiliation called direct talks" with Israel.

He also vowed that "as long as our villages are unsafe -- being bombed, destroyed and our people killed -- the settlements (north Israel) are unsafe".

President Donald Trump on Thursday slammed a vote in the US House seeking to order the withdrawal of American troops from the Iran war, suggesting the "unpatriotic" move disrupted negotiations with Tehran.

The largely symbolic vote came "right in the middle of my final negotiations to end the War with the Islamic Republic of Iran," Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform. "Who would do such an unpatriotic thing. They know where the negotiations stand."

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Thursday that an agreement on implementing a ceasefire announced in Washington after talks with Israel was the "last chance" to reach a comprehensive truce.

"The results of the fourth round of negotiations, and the statement issued from it, which included very important points in Lebanon's favour, represent the last chance to enter into a final, comprehensive ceasefire. Each party bears responsibility" if it fails to respond positively, Aoun said, according to a statement from his office.

Aoun said Lebanon would inform the United States of its position "as soon as responses are received from the concerned internal parties, particularly Hezbollah", adding that the US would determine the ceasefire's start date and "President Donald Trump will be the direct guarantor of its implementation".

A UNIFIL peacekeeper has died in the early morning hours after mortar rounds struck his position near Marjayoun in southern Lebanon, according to Al Jazeera. The peacekeeper sustained critical injuries in the barrage, the UN mission said in a statement, without indicating a nationality or who was responsible for the attack. Two other UN peacekeepers were wounded during the mortar fire.

Israel's defence minister said Thursday that a ceasefire agreement with Lebanon grants the military the "freedom" to strike Beirut if Hezbollah attacks Israeli communities, adding that operations in southern Lebanon would continue.

"The IDF will, at this stage, continue its fire and ground operations, remain in the security zone in Lebanon up to the Yellow Line -- including in the Beaufort area -- and without the return of the population, while continuing to dismantle terrorist infrastructure on the ground," Israel Katz said in a statement, as he hailed the ceasefire deal reached on Wednesday.

He said Israeli forces retained the "freedom of action, with American backing, to strike in Beirut in response to fire on Israeli communities and territory".

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has criticised recent ceasefire efforts with Lebanon held in Washington.

"The ceasefire with Lebanon is a serious mistake and the pipe dreams of advisors who are dragging the prime minister into incorrect decisions," he said in a post on X.

"There are moments when one must know how to say 'no' even to the president of the United States, and when we don't do so- we will meet Hezbollah next time when it is much stronger and more dangerous," he added

President Donald Trump has said that the United States had spoken directly with Hezbollah for the first time, adding that the group had agreed not to fire on Israel as Washington seeks to stabilise multiple conflicts across the Middle East. "We actually spoke with Hezbollah for the first time ever," Trump told reporters at the White House on Wednesday (local time) while discussing ongoing negotiations involving Iran and regional security issues.

"They agreed yesterday they're not going to shoot, Israel is not going to shoot. We're just going to see." Trump made the remarks while outlining what he described as progress in diplomatic efforts surrounding Iran's nuclear programme, regional ceasefires and maritime security in the Gulf. The President indicated that Washington was attempting to separate discussions involving Hezbollah from broader negotiations with Iran. "I'd like to separate it," Trump said.

"I'd like to have it as a separate thing because it is separate." The comments came amid growing signs of movement in US-Iran diplomacy. Trump said negotiations with Tehran were proceeding well and suggested an agreement could be reached within days. "I hear the negotiation itself has gone very well, actually. Very well," he said. (IANS)

An Israeli drone has targeted a car between the towns of Kfar Kila and Zefta Nabatieh, south Lebanon, according to the National News Agency. The attack comes despite an earlier announcement that Israel and Lebanon agreed to implement a ceasefire following US-led talks on Wednesday.

Beirut: US President Donald Trump acknowledged criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as "crazy" in a phone call that involved expletives, saying he was "a little bit perturbed" that Israel's fighting with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon was holding back peace talks with Iran.

But even as the U.S. president conceded the tensions in an interview released Wednesday, he insisted that his relationship with Netanyahu was solid and that they connected, in part, because they are both "wartime" leaders.

"We've worked very well together. I like Bibi a lot. And I work very well with him," Trump told The New York Post's "Pod Force One."

In an interview on the American business-news channel CNBC, Netanyahu responded that he and Trump sometimes have "tactical disagreements" but have "common goals" and "agree on the main things." Read more...

Israeli attacks on Gaza killed at least eight people on Thursday, a spokesman for the civil defence agency in the Palestinian territory told AFP. "At least eight martyrs as a result of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City at dawn," with seven killed in strikes on residential buildings and one in the Al-Shati refugee camp to the west of Gaza City, said spokesman Mahmoud Bassal. Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City also reported 15 people wounded in the strikes, he added.

Despite a truce technically in effect since October, daily violence has rocked the Gaza Strip, over half of which is under Israeli military control in defiance of the ceasefire's terms. Israel has killed at least 936 people since the ceasefire began, according to Gaza's health ministry, which operates under Hamas authority and whose figures are considered reliable by the UN.

Israel and Lebanon agreed Wednesday to implement a ceasefire but said it would require a "complete cessation" of fire by Iran-backed Hezbollah, according to a joint statement after US-led talks in Washington.

The two sides, which do not have formal diplomatic relations, also agreed to create "pilot zones" in which the Lebanese armed forces "will take exclusive control of the territory to the exclusion of all non-state actors." The statement added that the two sides agreed to reconvene for more talks on "political and security tracks  the week of  June 22, with a view toward reaching a comprehensive agreement."

"All countries reaffirmed that the future of the relationship between Israel and Lebanon must be decided by the two sovereign governments," the statement continued. "They rejected any attempt, by any state or non-state actor, to hold Lebanon's future hostage," the document said, in apparent references to Iran and its allied militant group Hezbollah.

The negotiations come days after US President Donald Trump said the two countries had pledged to de-escalate. But Israel and Hezbollah have continued to trade fire, with Hezbollah claiming missile attacks on northern Israel Wednesday and Lebanon saying Israeli strikes in the south killed at least nine people, including two paramedics.

Iran's foreign minister said Wednesday that "no tangible progress" has been made in negotiations to end the Middle East war as fresh US and Iranian strikes strained a fragile ceasefire. Kuwaiti officials said the renewed hostilities included an Iranian drone strike on a passenger terminal at Kuwait international airport that killed one person and wounded 63.

In contrast with the downbeat Iranian remarks, US President Donald Trump voiced optimism again, telling reporters at the White House "it could happen...over the weekend." "I hear the negotiation itself is going very well actually," Trump said of the latest bid to end the US-Israeli war in the Middle East, which began February 28.

However, US lawmakers dealt a political blow to the Republican president Wednesday when the House of Representatives passed a resolution directing withdrawal of American troops from the Iran war. Read more...

The US House of Representatives has passed a War Powers Resolution attempting to limit the military powers of President Donald Trump and end the Iran War. Four Republicans - Reps Thomas Massie, Tom Barrett, Warren Davidson, and Brian Fitzpatrick - joined all House Democrats to push the measure to a vote, with 215 voting for and 208 voting against, with the resolution to now go before a high contested vote in the Senate. Read More...

US President Donald Trump has expressed a desire to hold a future meeting with Iran's new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, following a highly tense telephonic conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Speaking with the New York Post's "Pod Force One" podcast, the US president stated that he believes Khamenei is the one giving the final approval amid talks with Washington and would like to meet him.

"I would like to meet him, and we probably will meet at some point, depending on how it all works out," said Trump.
The broader conflict involving the United States, Israel, and Iran erupted on February 28, when initial military strikes targeting Tehran resulted in the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Following his demise, Iran appointed his 56-year-old son, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, to assume the mantle of the country's Supreme Leader.

Since the transition of power in Tehran, Trump has openly speculated about the physical condition of the new Iranian leader, suggesting that Mojtaba sustained severe injuries during the US-Israeli military operations.
"I'm not hearing he's doing great. If you believe the stories, he's missing a lot of different parts," Trump said on the podcast.