Motorists drive their vehicles past a political billboard featuring U.S. President Donald Trump and the Strait of Hormuz along Valiasr Square in Tehran on May 26, 2026.
| Photo Credit:
AFP

U.S. forces carried out new defensive strikes on Wednesday (May 27, 2026) on an Iran military facility after downing Iranian attack drones, according to U.S. officials.

The strikes came after President Donald Trump asserted on Wednesday that Iran is “negotiating on fumes” and insisted that November’s midterm elections will not make him rush into a deal to end the nearly three-month-old conflict that has spurred unease across the global economy. 

Also read: Iran says war unlikely as Trump warns he may ‘finish the job’

Under the potential deal, Tehran would agree to give up its stockpile of highly-enriched uranium, in return for sanctions relief. 

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Tehran on Tuesday accused Washington of breaching the ceasefire and warned it was ready to retaliate after overnight U.S. strikes, while Israeli bombardment in Lebanon left dozens dead, threatening an increasingly fragile truce there.

The Brent benchmark oil price jumped up by more than three percent after U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced the new wave of bombings targeting Iranian missile sites and mine-laying boats, while China urged both sides to respect the truce and to resolve their dispute peacefully.

Iranian state media reported overnight blasts in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, near the Strait of Hormuz, and the country’s Revolutionary Guards said its forces had downed a US drone entering its airspace and had fired at an F-35 fighter jet.

-AFP

U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran’s enriched uranium can be turned and destroyed in the U.S., but his preference is for it to be destroyed “in place” or at “another acceptable location,” under the supervision of the IAEA.

Mr. Trump’s comment marks a shift in his repeated statements that Iran hand over its enriched uranium to the US as a sticking point of any potential deal.

“The Enriched Uranium (Nuclear Dust!) will either be immediately turned over to the United States to be brought home and destroyed or, preferably, in conjunction and coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran, destroyed in place or, at another acceptable location, with the Atomic Energy Commission, or its equivalent, being witness to this process and event,” Mr. Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

-PTI

The U.S. military said it carried out “self-defence” strikes in southern Iran, including on missile launch sites and boats placing mines, even as President Donald Trump said on social media that negotiations were “proceeding nicely”.

The strikes were done “to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces”, but the military was “using restraint during the ongoing ceasefire”, Capt. Tim Hawkins, U.S. Central Command spokesman, said in a statement on Monday.

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U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused Hezbollah in a statement Sunday of trying to plunge Lebanon “back into chaos.”

Mr. Rubio denounced what he called Hezbollah’s “reckless call to overthrow Lebanon’s democratically elected government” and said the pro-Iran armed group was “actively trying to drag Lebanon back into chaos and destruction.”

Naim Qassem, the leader of Hezbollah, said earlier that “the people have the right to go down onto the streets and to bring down the government” in response to Israeli strikes and US sanctions on the Al-Qard Al-Hassan financial institution.

-AFP

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf met with chief of Defence Forces of Pakistan, Field Marshal Asim Munir, in Tehran, Iran, on May 23, 2026.
| Photo Credit:
Iranian Parliament Speaker Office/WANA via Reuters

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Sunday (May 24, 2026) that he hoped Pakistan could soon host the next round of peace talks between Iran and the United States. “Pakistan will continue its peace efforts with utmost sincerity and we hope to host the next round of talks very soon,” Mr. Sharif, whose country has played a key role in mediating between Washington and Tehran, posted on X.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday (May 23, 2026) a deal with Iran had been “largely negotiated,” with the proposal including opening the crucial Strait of Hormuz, though the agreement was “subject to finalisation.” Among the West Asia countries whose leaders joined a call on Saturday (May 23, 2026) to discuss the deal were Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan and Bahrain, Mr. Trump said. He added that he had a separate call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying it “likewise went very well.”

Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf had warned earlier that Washington would face a tough response if it resumed hostilities, after U.S. media reports raised the prospect of new strikes and Iranian officials accused the U.S. side of making “excessive demands.

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