Trump claims US has held talks with Iran

Lufthansa will not be flying into airports including Tehran, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Erbil and others until at least October 24, the German flag carrier said in a statement.

Flights to Dubai and Tel Aviv are also suspended. For those cities, however, the company hopes to resume service after May 31.

Lufthansa cited security risks and operational costs as reasons for its decision.

The restrictions will also apply to several Lufthansa subsidiaries, including Austrian Airlines and Swiss International Airlines.

Eurowings, a low-cost airline owned by Lufthansa, currently has a different set of restrictions in place, including a halt on flights to Tel Aviv in Israel, Beirut in Lebanon and Erbil in Iraq until the end of April.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he spoke with US President Donald Trump, following Trump’s comments about the US reaching “major points of agreement” with Tehran.

According to Netanyahu, Trump believes that war achievements can be leveraged into a deal with Iran.

The Israeli leader also said any deal would preserve “our vital interests.”

In a video statement released by his office, Netanyahu also said Israel was continuing attacks on Iran and Lebanon.

“We are dismantling the missile and nuclear programs, and continue to deal severe blows to Hezbollah,” Netanyahu said.

After two men were charged with spying on London’s Jewish community last week, the UK Foreign Office summoned Iran’s ambassador Seyed Ali Mousavi and pledged to “take all measures necessary to protect the British people.”

“The summons follows the recent charging of two individuals, one Iranian national and one British-Iranian dual national, under the National Security Act, on suspicion of providing assistance to a foreign intelligence service,” a Foreign Office spokesperson said, decrying “Iran’s reckless and destabilising actions at home and abroad.”

Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer told lawmakers that Iran war was “not our war, and we are not getting dragged into this war” despite London allowing the US to use British bases in the attacks on Iran’s missile sites.

Starmer also warned that the fighting “could go on for some time” and the UK would plan for this possibility while also putting energy into “swift de-escalation.”

Asian markets nosedived early on Monday, but an apparent change in tone from US President Donald Trump regarding the Iran war prompted a rally on European markets and a positive start to trading in the US.

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With Israeli forces invading southern Lebanon, Israel’s hardline Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich reportedly urged taking parts of Lebanon’s territory.

According to the Reuters news agency, Smotrich told an Israeli radio program the new Israeli border should be at the Litani River, dozens of kilometers into Lebanon.

The fighting in Lebanon “needs to end with a different reality entirely,” he was quoted as saying.

“I say here definitively… in every room and in every discussion, too: the new Israeli border must be the Litani,” Smotrich said.

During Israel’s incursion into Lebanon in 2006, the Israeli army sought to push Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah north of the river and create a buffer zone, but was forced to abandon this goal.

The latest fighting has killed more than 1,000 people in Lebanon, with more than a million people displaced.

Smotrich also called for Israel to annex more than half of the territory of the Gaza Strip.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that Ukraine’s military intelligence has “irrefutable” evidence that Russia continues to provide intelligence to Iran.

In a post on X, Zelenskyy said Ukrainian officials believe Russia is sharing information with Tehran that was gathered through its signals and electronic intelligence systems, as well as data obtained from “partners in the Middle East.”

Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that Russia had shared satellite imagery and improved drone technology with Iran to help Tehran locate and target US forces — claims the Kremlin dismissed as “fake news” in a statement last Thursday.

US President Donald Trump says he will continue the talks he claims to have held with Iran negotiators by phone.

“Because it’s very hard to find a country,” he said. “It’s very hard for them to get out, I guess.”

Trump said the US has already held discussions with a “top person” in Iran, claiming the two sides reached “major points of agreement.”

But the contact he described as “the most respected and the leader” was, according to Trump, “not the supreme leader” Motjaba Khamenei.

Trump declined to identify the Iranian negotiators, saying he did not “want to get them killed.”

Iranian officials have denied any negotiations are underway. Mehr news agency, citing the foreign ministry, called Trump’s statements an attempt “to reduce energy prices.”

Trump said that among the US’s conditions were that Iran abandon its nuclear ambitions and surrender its stockpile of enriched uranium.

Trump has previously said he does not consider Khamenei the true leader of Iran. Speaking to reporters as he boarded his plane in Florida, he suggested the US should play a role in shaping Iran’s future leadership — drawing a parallel to Venezuela, where a US‑backed successor took over after longtime leader Nicolas Maduro was ousted.

“Look at Venezuela, how well that’s working out. Maybe we find somebody like that in Iran,” Trump said.

Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, CEO of the UAE state oil company ADNOC, accused Iran of terrorizing the world by blocking the Strait of Hormuz.

“Weaponizing the Strait of Hormuz is not an act of aggression against one nation,” he said in virtual remarks delivered to attendees of the energy industry’s annual CERAWeek conference in Houston, Texas. 

“It’s economic terrorism against every nation. And no country should be allowed to hold Hormuz hostage.” he added.

The sultan blasted Iran’s decision to close the strait and the havoc this has caused, for instance, the impact it has had on global oil prices.

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said surging oil prices should “send a signal to everyone that can produce more” to “please produce more.”

He added that the US has implemented what he called “pragmatic solutions,” loosening restrictions to allow some sanctioned oil already in transit to reach the market.

Wright said the US could also release more oil from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve to calm markets during the war with Iran, though he called such a move “highly unlikely” in an interview with CNBC.

He described the current disruptions as “temporary” as higher prices continue to strain consumers.

The European Union’s (EU) top diplomat called President Donald Trump’s decision to postpone US military attacks on Iranian energy infrastructure “a very welcome development.”

Kaya Kallas, in Abuja, Nigeria, for meetings with Foreign Minister Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, said infrastructure attacks in the three-week conflict had already caused considerable chaos and cautioned against further escalation. 

US President Donald Trump said the US has held talks with Iran, claiming the two sides have “major points of agreement” and suggesting a potential deal could be imminent.

“We have had very, very strong talks,” Trump said. “​We’ll see where they lead.”

Trump told reporters that his special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, had held discussions with Iran’s “respected leaders,” but said that the talks did not involve Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei.

He added that a deal could be reached soon if negotiations remain productive, but warned that if they fail, “we’ll keep bombing our little hearts out,” he told reporters.

Iran has so far denied that such negotiations are taking place.

Markets have responded to Trump’s recent comments on Iran, with oil prices falling and stocks rising.

Nigeria has accelerated gasoline exports across Africa, amid the ongoing energy disruptions triggered by the Iran war.

Data from tanker-tracking firm Kpler showed on Monday that Nigeria’s exports of clean petroleum products have more than doubled daily in March. Clean petroleum products include gasoline, diesel, kerosene and jet fuel.

Dangote Refinery, which is owned by Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote, announced late on Sunday that it sold 12 cargoes totalling 456,000 tons of fuel.

Shipments to other African countries have also more than doubled. They now stand at around 90 thousand barrels per day.

“By supplying neighboring and other economies, the Dangote Refinery is expected to contribute to enhance energy security in west, east and central Africa,” the company said.

It added that the recipients included Cote d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Tanzania, Ghana and Togo.  “We have demands even out of Africa, especially for jet fuel,” a company spokesperson told the French AFP news agency.

The Middle East conflict has disrupted traditional fuel transfer routes from Europe and the Gulf. This has created opportunities for suppliers with shorter supply chains. Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil producer.

After US President Donald Trump publicly stated that “very good and productive” talks with Iran had led to the postponement of threatened US military strikes, Tehran flatly rejected the assertion.
  
Iran’s Mehr news agency quoted the country’s Foreign Ministry, which dismissed Trump’s statement as an attempt “to reduce energy prices,” saying, “There are no talks between Tehran and Washington.”   

Though Trump is leaning into the idea of negotiations, it remains unclear whether any progress has been made toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz welcomed US President Donald Trump‘s decision to delay previously threatened strikes on Iranian power plants.

“I am grateful that he said he is postponing them for another five days,” Merz said at a press conference in Berlin.

He said he had called Trump on Sunday to express his concerns about the planned attacks.

At the press conference, Merz also appreciated Trump for “opening the possibility for immediate and direct contact with the Iranian leadership.”

US President Donald Trump took to Truth Social Monday morning to announce that he would back off his 48-hour ultimatum — due to expire late Monday — for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz or face massive attacks on its energy infrastructure.

In an all-caps statement, Trump cited “very good and productive conversations” with Iran as the reason for the pause. The US leader said he had instructed the military “to postpone any and all military strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for a five-day period.”

Trump added the caveat that the pause remained contingent upon the success of talks that will be ongoing this week.

Trump offered no information about the talks that he was referring to, nor has Iran acknowledged that any have taken place.