Iran Military Official Says Renewed War with US ‘Likely’

A woman walks past an anti-US graffiti painted on the wall of the Tehran University on Enqelab-e-Eslami street in downtown Tehran, Iran, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (AP)
A woman walks past an anti-US graffiti painted on the wall of the Tehran University on Enqelab-e-Eslami street in downtown Tehran, Iran, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (AP)
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Iran Military Official Says Renewed War with US ‘Likely’

A woman walks past an anti-US graffiti painted on the wall of the Tehran University on Enqelab-e-Eslami street in downtown Tehran, Iran, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (AP)
A woman walks past an anti-US graffiti painted on the wall of the Tehran University on Enqelab-e-Eslami street in downtown Tehran, Iran, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (AP)

A senior Iranian military officer said on Saturday that renewed fighting between the US and Iran was "likely", hours after President Donald Trump said he was "not satisfied" with a new Iranian negotiating proposal.

Iran delivered the draft to mediator Pakistan on Thursday evening, state media reported without detailing its contents.

The war, launched by the United States and Israel in late February, has been on hold since April 8, with one failed round of peace talks having taken place in Pakistan since then.

"At this moment I'm not satisfied with what they're offering," Trump told reporters, blaming stalled talks on "tremendous discord" within Iran's leadership.

"Do we want to go and just blast the hell out of them and finish them forever -- or do we want to try and make a deal?" he added, saying he would "prefer not" to take the first option "on a human basis".

On Saturday morning, Mohammad Jafar Asadi, a senior figure in the Iranian military's central command, said "a renewed conflict between Iran and the United States is likely", in quotes published by Iran's Fars news agency.

"Evidence has shown that the United States is not committed to any promises or agreements," he added.

- 'Stuck in purgatory' -

Iran's judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said on Friday that his country had "never shied away from negotiations", but added it would not accept an "imposition" of peace terms.

The White House has declined to provide details on the latest Iranian proposal, but news site Axios reported that US envoy Steve Witkoff had submitted amendments putting Tehran's nuclear program back on the negotiating table.

The changes reportedly include demands that Iran not move enriched uranium from bombed sites or resume activity there during talks.

News of the Iranian proposal briefly pushed oil prices down nearly five percent, though they remain about 50 percent above pre-war levels amid the ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran has maintained a stranglehold on the strait since the war began, choking off major flows of oil, gas and fertilizer to the world economy, while the United States has imposed a counter-blockade on Iranian ports.

Tehran resident Amir told Paris-based AFP journalists that the stalemate "feels like we are stuck in purgatory", and he expressed little hope for the Iranian proposal.

"This is all to waste time," he said, predicting the United States and Israel "will attack again".

Despite the ceasefire in the Gulf, fighting has continued in Lebanon, where Israel has carried out deadly strikes despite a separate truce with the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah.

Lebanon's health ministry said 13 people were killed in strikes in the south, including in the town of Habboush, where the Israeli military had issued an evacuation warning.

- 'Terminated' -

In Washington, lawmakers were wrestling with a legal dispute over whether Trump had breached a deadline to seek congressional approval for the war.

Administration officials argue that the ceasefire pauses a 60-day limit, after which congressional authorization would be required -- a claim disputed by opposition Democrats.

Trump faces growing domestic pressure, with inflation rising, no clear victory in sight and midterm elections approaching.

"There has been no exchange of fire between United States Forces and Iran since April 7, 2026," Trump said in letters to congressional leaders, adding that the hostilities "have terminated".

In Iran, the war's economic toll is deepening.

Washington has imposed new sanctions on three Iranian currency firms and warned others against paying a "toll" for safe passage through Hormuz, as demanded by Iran.

The US military says its blockade of Iranian ports has stopped $6 billion in Iranian oil exports, while inflation in Iran, already high before the war, has surged past 50 percent.

"For many people, paying rent and even buying food has become difficult, and some have nothing left at all," 28-year-old Iranian Mahyar told an AFP reporter based outside the country.

Supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei said on Friday that "the owners of damaged businesses should avoid, as much as possible, layoffs and separation of their workforce".

He also threatened Iran's enemies with "economic and cultural" war.



Taiwan, China Coast Guards in Standoff at Top of South China Sea

A person poses for photo holding a Taiwan flag at a rally to support government plans to increase defense spending in Taipei, Taiwan May 23, 2026. (Reuters)
A person poses for photo holding a Taiwan flag at a rally to support government plans to increase defense spending in Taipei, Taiwan May 23, 2026. (Reuters)
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Taiwan, China Coast Guards in Standoff at Top of South China Sea

A person poses for photo holding a Taiwan flag at a rally to support government plans to increase defense spending in Taipei, Taiwan May 23, 2026. (Reuters)
A person poses for photo holding a Taiwan flag at a rally to support government plans to increase defense spending in Taipei, Taiwan May 23, 2026. (Reuters)

The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards were engaged in a tense standoff for the second day near the strategically located Pratas islands at the top of the South China Sea, Taiwan's Coast Guard said on Sunday.

China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, a position the government in Taipei rejects.

China has pressured Taiwan by increasing its military presence around the island, and Taipei is on high alert for further Chinese actions after President Xi Jinping discussed Taiwan with US President Donald Trump in Beijing this ‌month.

Lying roughly ‌between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are ‌seen ⁠by some security ⁠experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance - more than 400 km (250 miles) - from Taiwan island.

Taiwan's Coast Guard said on Saturday it had spotted a Chinese Coast Guard ship heading to the Pratas and immediately sent its own ship which broadcast warnings and the two sides "engaged in an intense verbal confrontation over sovereignty via radio."

The Chinese ship broadcast that it was on a ⁠routine mission and that China had sovereignty and jurisdiction over ‌the Pratas, the Taiwan Coast Guard said.

“Please do ‌not destroy peace. You should return and strive for democracy. That is the correct ‌way to serve your country,” the Taiwan ship broadcast back, according to ‌video provided by its coast guard.

China's Taiwan Affairs Office did not respond to a request for comment.

A Taiwan Coast Guard official told Reuters the Chinese ship was 21 nautical miles to the northeast of the Pratas and the standoff was continuing as of Sunday ‌afternoon.

China's wording on having jurisdiction and sovereignty was unusual as was the length of its stay in the ⁠waters so close ⁠to the Pratas, the official added, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation.

The coast guard said on Friday night it had also driven away for the second time this month the Chinese research ship "Tongji" in waters close to the island.

The Pratas, an atoll which is also a Taiwanese national park, is only lightly defended by Taiwan, and its coast guard has that responsibility rather than the military.

In January, Taiwan said a Chinese reconnaissance drone briefly flew over the Pratas.

On Saturday, Taiwan's National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu took to his X account to detail the 100 Chinese ships he said were currently in the first island chain, referring to an area running from Japan through Taiwan and into the Philippines.


Türkiye Orders Police to Evict Ousted Opposition Leadership from Headquarters

 Supporters of Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the former Republican People’s Party (CHP) chairman reinstated by a court decision, scuffle with supporters of ousted party chairman Ozgur Ozel as they try to enter the party’s headquarters in Ankara, Türkiye, May 24, 2026. (Reuters)
Supporters of Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the former Republican People’s Party (CHP) chairman reinstated by a court decision, scuffle with supporters of ousted party chairman Ozgur Ozel as they try to enter the party’s headquarters in Ankara, Türkiye, May 24, 2026. (Reuters)
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Türkiye Orders Police to Evict Ousted Opposition Leadership from Headquarters

 Supporters of Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the former Republican People’s Party (CHP) chairman reinstated by a court decision, scuffle with supporters of ousted party chairman Ozgur Ozel as they try to enter the party’s headquarters in Ankara, Türkiye, May 24, 2026. (Reuters)
Supporters of Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the former Republican People’s Party (CHP) chairman reinstated by a court decision, scuffle with supporters of ousted party chairman Ozgur Ozel as they try to enter the party’s headquarters in Ankara, Türkiye, May 24, 2026. (Reuters)

Turkish ‌authorities ordered police to evict the leadership of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) from their headquarters on Sunday, enforcing a court ruling that reinstated the former leader and fueled a political crisis.

Riot police and crowds gathered outside the gates of CHP headquarters in the ‌Turkish capital ‌after the Ankara governor's office ‌issued ⁠the order to ⁠remove CHP members aligned with ousted leader Ozgur Ozel.

A Turkish appeals court on Thursday annulled the results of a CHP congress at which Ozel was elected in ⁠2023, citing unspecified irregularities. In ‌Ozel's place, ‌the court reinstated former CHP Chairman Kemal ‌Kilicdaroglu, who lost to President Recep Tayyip ‌Erdogan in elections earlier that year.

Ozel called on Saturday for a new party congress to be held as ‌soon as possible while Kilicdaroglu has said that a ⁠congress would ⁠be held at an "appropriate" time.

The ousted CHP leadership under Ozel has condemned the court ruling as a "judicial coup" and Ozel promised to fight it through legal appeals and to remain "day and night" in the party's Ankara headquarters.

CHP lawmakers on Saturday elected Ozel as leader of the party's parliamentary group.


Rubio Says Announcement Possible Later Sunday on Iran War

 US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks at a joint presser with India’s Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar (not pictured) following their talks in New Delhi, India, May 24, 2026. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Pool via Reuters)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks at a joint presser with India’s Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar (not pictured) following their talks in New Delhi, India, May 24, 2026. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Pool via Reuters)
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Rubio Says Announcement Possible Later Sunday on Iran War

 US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks at a joint presser with India’s Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar (not pictured) following their talks in New Delhi, India, May 24, 2026. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Pool via Reuters)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks at a joint presser with India’s Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar (not pictured) following their talks in New Delhi, India, May 24, 2026. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Pool via Reuters)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said an announcement was possible later Sunday on a deal with Iran that could formally end the Middle East war, insisting goals had been met.

"I do think perhaps there is the possibility that in the next few hours the world will get some good news," Rubio told reporters in New Delhi.

Rubio, who is on his first visit to India, said the emerging deal would address US President Donald Trump's concerns on the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has largely blocked in response to the US-Israeli attack.

The agreement would also start a "process that can ultimately leave us where the president wants us to be, and that is a world that no longer has to fear or worry about an Iranian nuclear weapon", he added.

His remarks came after Trump said a proposal that included opening the Strait of Hormuz had been "largely negotiated".

"An Agreement has been largely negotiated, subject to finalization between the United States of America, Iran, and the various other Countries," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Saturday.

The emerging agreement has quickly met criticism from usual supporters of Trump including Senator Ted Cruz and Mike Pompeo, Trump's secretary of state in his first term.

Both are staunch supporters of Israel and voiced opposition to Iran soon receiving benefits such as the unimpeded ability to sell its oil.

Cruz said the outcome could be a "disastrous mistake".

Asked about the criticism, Rubio said "no one has been stronger" among US presidents against Iran by launching the war, codenamed Epic Fury.

"When this conflict began with Iran, the goals were outlined, they were very simple, they were very clear -- we were going to destroy their navy, which was done," he said.

Rubio said the United States also aimed to "significantly reduce" Iran's ability to fire ballistic missiles and to "do damage to the defense-industrial base" of the country.

"Those were the objectives of Epic Fury. Those objectives were achieved," Rubio said.