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 (May 25, 2026).

Further details were not immediately available, including more specifics on the threats from Iran and what this means for negotiations. Earlier, Mr. Trump said any agreement to end the Iran war should include a requirement for several additional countries, including Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, to join the Abraham Accords, the U.S.-brokered agreements from Trump’s first term aimed at normalising relations with Israel.

The proposal came as the emerging Iran deal faced criticism from fellow Republicans who favour a harder line on Iran, and it could add new diplomatic complications to the negotiations.

Mr. Trump pointed to Saudi Arabia and Qatar as countries that should “immediately” sign on, alongside Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt and Jordan. Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates became the first countries to join in 2020.

He wrote that “after all the work done by the United States to try and pull this very complex puzzle together, it should be mandatory that all of these Countries, at a minimum, simultaneously, sign onto the Abraham Accords”.

Mr. Trump has long hoped Saudi Arabia would join, but the kingdom has maintained that any normalisation deal requires first establishing a clear path for Palestinian statehood. That’s also key for Pakistan, which is among the countries that do not have diplomatic relations with Israel.

Islamabad-based analyst Syed Mohammad Ali said Pakistan’s position on Israel remains unchanged despite Trump’s latest proposal.

The President said he brought up the Abraham Accords plan with leaders during negotiations on Saturday (May 23, 2026). He said he would accept “one or two” countries declining to sign, but said most should be willing. Egypt and Jordan already formally recognise Israel and have long-standing peace treaties. Turkey first recognised Israel in 1949.

Masood Khan, Pakistan’s former Ambassador to the United States, said it remains to be seen how workable the proposal might be for the countries on Mr. Trump’s list.

“The invocation of the Abraham Accords at this stage gives an altogether new dimension to the diplomatic and mediatory processes because this issue was not on the agenda,” he said, pointing to the domestic pressure Trump is facing to strike a favourable deal.

Still, Mr. Khan said, “the diplomatic track is still working, and I believe Pakistan is very much at the center of it, supported by regional countries”.

It remains unclear when or how any deal with Iran might be completed. Mr. Trump suggested even Iran could eventually sign on to the accords, if an agreement is reached.

The accords are a series of diplomatic, economic and security agreements created with U.S. influence during Trump’s first term, originally between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, followed by Sudan, Morocco, and, more recently, Kazakhstan.

They were framed as an effort to promote cooperation among countries in West Asia and North Africa, and the administration saw them as partly paving a path toward full ties with Israel.

U.S. intelligence indicates that Iran’s leadership is still largely intact and is not at ​risk of collapse any time soon after nearly two weeks of relentless U.S. and Israeli bombardment, according to three sources familiar with the ‌matter.

A “multitude” of intelligence reports provide “consistent analysis that the regime is not in danger” of collapse and “retains control ​of the Iranian public,” said one of the sources, all of whom were granted anonymity to discuss ⁠U.S. intelligence findings.

The latest report was completed within the last few days, the source said. With political pressure building over soaring oil costs, President Donald Trump has suggested he will end the biggest U.S. military operation since 2003 “soon.” But finding an acceptable end to the war could be difficult if ‌Iran’s hardline leaders remain firmly entrenched. The intelligence reporting underscores the cohesion of Iran’s clerical leadership despite the killing of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on February 28, the first day of the U.S. and Israeli strikes. Israeli officials ‌in closed discussions also have acknowledged there is no certainty the war will lead to the clerical government’s collapse, a ‌senior ⁠Israeli official told Reuters.

The sources stressed that the situation on the ground is fluid and that the ⁠dynamics inside Iran could change. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Central Intelligence Agency declined to comment.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Shifting objectives

Since launching their war, the U.S. and Israel have struck a range of Iranian targets, including air defenses, nuclear sites, and members ​of the senior leadership.

The Trump administration has given ‌varying reasons for the war. In announcing the beginning of the U.S. operation, Mr. Trump urged Iranians to “take over your government,” but top aides have since denied that the objective was to oust Iran’s leadership. In addition to Khamenei, the strikes have killed dozens of senior officials and some of the highest-ranking commanders in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), an elite paramilitary force that controls ‌large parts of the economy.

Still, the U.S. intelligence reports indicate that the IRGC and the interim leaders who ​assumed power after Khamenei’s death retain control of the country. The Assembly of Experts, a group of senior Shiite clerics, earlier this week declared Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba, the new supreme leader.

Israel has no intention of ⁠allowing any remnants of the former government to stay intact, said a fourth source familiar with the matter.

It is unclear how the current U.S.-Israeli military campaign would topple the government. It would likely require a ground offensive that would allow people inside Iran to safely protest ‌in the streets, said the source.

The Trump administration has not ruled out sending U.S. troops into Iran.

Intelligence suggests Iranian kurdish lack firepower to fight Iran

Reuters reported last week that Iranian Kurdish militias based in neighboring Iraq consulted with the U.S. about how and whether to attack Iran’s security forces in the western part of the country.

Such an incursion could put pressure on Iranian security services there, allowing Iranians to rise up against the government.

Abdullah Mohtadi, the head of the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan, part of a six-party coalition of Iranian Kurdish parties, said in an interview on Wednesday that the parties are highly organized inside Iran and that “tens of ‌thousands of young people are ready to take up arms” against the government if they receive U.S. support.

Mr. Mohtadi said he has received reports from inside ​Iranian Kurdistan that IRGC units and other security forces have abandoned bases and barracks out of fear of U.S. and Israeli strikes.

“We have been witnessing tangible signs of weakness in Kurdish areas,” he said. But recent U.S. intelligence ⁠reports have cast doubt on the ability of the Iranian Kurdish groups to sustain a fight against Iranian security services, according to two ⁠sources familiar with those assessments.

The intelligence indicates that the groups lack the firepower and numbers, they said.

The Kurdish Regional Government, which governs the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan where the Iranian Kurdish groups are based, did not immediately respond ‌to a request for comment.

The Iranian Kurdish groups have in recent days asked senior officials in Washington and U.S. lawmakers for the U.S. to provide them with weapons and armoured vehicles, another person familiar with the matter said.

But Mr. Trump said on ​Saturday that he had ruled out having the Iranian Kurdish groups go into Iran.