US President Donald Trump says US in negotiations with Iran 'right now' to end war

Iran's atomic energy organisation accused the US and Israel on Tuesday of attacking its Bushehr nuclear power plant, saying a projectile had landed within its compound but caused no damage.

"The...enemy has attacked the Bushehr nuclear power plant site again," the organisation said in a statement, adding that "a projectile hit inside the enclosure of the Bushehr power plant."

"Initial reports indicate this incident did not cause any financial or technical damage, or human casualty, and the various areas of the power plant are unharmed."

Israeli Brigadier General Effie Defrin, the military’s spokesperson, said in a televised statement that Iran fired dozens of missiles on Israel in the war’s first and second days of the war but this number “dropped quickly.”

He attributed that to Israel’s continued strikes on military headquarters, launch sites and missile production sites across Iran.

He said the military completed several more waves of strikes on targets in Iran on Tuesday.

Iraq's foreign ministry will summon the United States charge d'affaires and the Iranian ambassador following two deadly strikes targeting former paramilitaries and Iraqi Kurdish fighters from the autonomous northern region, an official statement said on Tuesday.

The ministry of foreign affairs will summon the representatives to "deliver formal notes of protest regarding the attacks," the Iraqi prime minister's office said in a statement following a meeting of the National Security Council.

The Israeli military said on Tuesday that it was operating "according to an unchanged plan" in Iran and Lebanon, regardless of any talks aimed at reaching an agreement to end the hostilities.

"Regarding this or that agreement, we are currently operating according to an unchanged plan," military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said during a televised briefing when asked about efforts to launch a diplomatic process that could put an end to the war.

"We are acting, and will continue to act...to deepen the damage and remove existential threats," Defrin added. "We are striking both in Iran and in Lebanon."

Donald Trump is pressing on with military operations against Iran as he examines "newfound" diplomatic options, the White House said on Tuesday, after the US president announced talks with Tehran and Pakistan emerged as a possible mediator.

"As President Trump and his negotiators explore this newfound possibility of diplomacy, Operation Epic Fury continues unabated to achieve the military objectives laid out by the Commander in Chief and the Pentagon," Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.

On Monday, Trump claimed his administration has been negotiating with Iran "for a long time" and believes a deal to end the war is close, saying Iran "means business."

But those claims were contradicted by Tehran, with both the foreign office and the parliament speaker denying any such negotiations had ever taken place.

Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf dismissed the reports as fake news to "manipulate the financial and oil markets."

The Israeli military said a ballistic missile launched from Iran fell in the Lebanese capital Beirut on Tuesday, as the Middle East war dragged into its fourth week.

"Following an assessment and based on the data available to the IDF, alongside the launches carried out toward the State of Israel earlier today, a ballistic missile fired by the Iranian terror regime fell in Beirut," a military statement said.

General Fabien Mandon made the comments on Tuesday at a Paris defence and security forum.

He described France’s relationship with the US as “very strong” but lamented that “they have just decided to intervene in the Near and Middle East without notifying us.”

“We acted immediately, surprised by an American ally, who remains an ally, but who is less and less predictable and doesn’t even bother to inform us when it decides to engage in military operations. This affects our security. This affects our interests,” he said.

French President Emmanuel Macron dispatched the nuclear-powered Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier and other naval warships to the Mediterranean and deployed aircraft and other assets to defend France’s interests and allies in the region and the Persian Gulf.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan insisted that the war must be brought to an end through dialogue and serious negotiations but suggested that Israel’s position was undermining diplomacy.

“Israel’s uncompromising, maximalist, radical stance must not be allowed to sabotage diplomatic solutions,” Erdoğan, a consistent and outspoken critic of Israel, said in a televised address.

“No country that values world peace and stability should continue to add fuel to the fire that Israel has unjustly ignited in our region.”

Israeli emergency services said a woman was killed in the north of the country on Tuesday following rocket fire from Lebanon, where Israeli forces are fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah.

"Following a launch toward northern Israel...teams are reporting a woman of about 30 with no signs of life and severe multi-system trauma and have pronounced her dead at the scene," the Magen David Adom emergency service said in a statement, adding that teams were treating two other people in mild condition with shrapnel injuries.

The Israeli military said that dozens of rockets from Lebanon were fired at the area at the time the incident occurred.

Now entering its fourth week, the war in Iran continues to send shockwaves through global aviation, with widespread disruption to flight schedules and airspace across the Middle East and Gulf.

European airline groups including Lufthansa and Air France have extended suspensions on key routes, citing ongoing security risks and restricted airspace.

Michael Starling has the details.

Lufthansa and Air France extend Middle East flight suspensions

Lufthansa Group’s airlines will not fly to and from a number of Middle East and Gulf destinations until 24 October.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said that explosions heard north of Beirut in the Keserwan district were caused by interceptor missiles and that missiles fell in the town of Faitroun and in the mountain village of Baskinta.

It was unclear what the intended target of the missiles was or how they had been intercepted.

Qatar is not directly taking part in mediation efforts, foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said on Tuesday, as missile and drone attacks on the country ease after several days of strikes.

“We are not involved in these talks,” he told reporters in Doha when asked about mediation efforts between the parties in the Iran war.

Read the full report by Mohamed Elashi and Aadel Haleem below.

Qatar says it is not mediating as it remains in ‘the eye of the storm’

Missile and drone attacks on Qatar have eased in recent days with no alerts issued, but officials say the country remains vigilant and reserves the right to re…

China's foreign minister told his Iranian counterpart in a phone call on Tuesday that "talking is always better than to keep fighting" after Tehran denied US President Donald Trump's claim that negotiations had taken place.

"It is hoped that all parties can seize every opportunity and window for peace and start the peace talks process as quickly as possible," Wang Yi told Abbas Araghchi, according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement.

The UAE defence ministry said on Tuesday that a Moroccan contractor with the Emirati military was killed in Bahrain in an Iranian attack, with Manama saying the man had been assisting the local armed forces.

"The Ministry of Defence mourns the loss of a Moroccan civilian contractor serving with the UAE Armed Forces, who was martyred during a routine mission in the Kingdom of Bahrain following an Iranian missile attack," the UAE ministry said in a statement on X.

Five UAE ministry of defence personnel were also injured in the attack, the statement added.

Bahrain's military had announced that a UAE army personnel was killed in its territory while helping Bahraini forces defend against Iranian attacks.

Israel should "refrain" from sending in forces to take control of a zone in south Lebanon, France's foreign minister said on Tuesday, saying such a move would have "major humanitarian consequences."

"We urge the Israeli authorities to refrain from such ground operations, which would have major humanitarian consequences and would exacerbate the country's already dire situation," Jean- Noël Barrot said.

Israel said earlier its military would take control of south Lebanon up to the Litani River, around 30 kilometres from the border.

Pakistan’s prime minister said on Tuesday his country is ready to “facilitate meaningful and conclusive talks” to end the Iran war.

Shehbaz Sharif made the comment in a post on X.

Pakistan is one of the countries pushing diplomatically for talks between Iran and the United States after President Donald Trump said on Monday there were ongoing negotiations between Washington and Tehran.

“Subject to concurrence by the US and Iran, Pakistan stands ready and honoured to be the host to facilitate meaningful and conclusive talks for a comprehensive settlement of the ongoing conflict,” Sharif wrote.

The war in the Iran — and the surge in oil prices it has unleashed — is already inflicting measurable damage on eurozone business activity, supply chains, and business confidence.

The result: the sharpest stagflation alarm from European survey data in years.

Piero Cingari has the details.

Is the Iran war pushing Europe into a stagflation crisis?

The Iran conflict has handed Europe its most punishing economic combination in years — stagflation. With input costs surging, output stalling and confidence co…

Israel’s military said on Tuesday it had identified additional missiles fired from Iran, the ninth time within hours.

The missiles are aimed at southern Israel, in a region near the country’s main nuclear research centre where two missiles struck on Saturday.

The Pine Gas and the Jag Vasant LPG carriers crossed the Strait of Hormuz without incident late on Monday, Rajesh Kumar Sinha, special secretary at the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, said on Tuesday.

The two tankers are expected to reach Indian shores later this week.

Indian media reported that the vessels sailed close to each other and followed a route approved by Iran that cuts closely to the country’s coastline.

Iran continues to keep a stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, which leads from the Persian Gulf toward the open ocean and through which a fifth of the world’s oil and other important commodities are shipped.

Qatar says that it is not mediating talks between Iran and the United States and that its focus is on defending its security as regional tensions escalate, Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Majed al-Ansari, said at a media briefing in Doha on Tuesday.

Asked for a possible explanation about why the Iranian attacks on Qatar have subsided, al-Ansari said “the attacks on the region persist and we are not out of the eye of the storm.”

“I can assure you that we have taken all possible precautions and planned for every possible contingency with very clear scenarios on possible escalation. But we are confident in our security apparatus right now and our response to the crisis,” he said.

“Our country has been attacked, our sovereignty has been attacked, we have seen the effects on our economy, on the daily lives of people living here, and we don't take it lightly and we do not see the attacks on our sovereignty as something that we can live with,” he said.

“Now that said, obviously living next to 90 million people in Iran, proud people that we have shared the Gulf with for, as I said, millennia, will continue. And we will have to find a way past this. This is a very difficult moment, but we will find a way out of it.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet G7 counterparts in France on Friday to discuss the war in Iran, the State Department announced on Tuesday.

Rubio, in his first foreign trip since the United States and Israel attacked Iran on 28 February, will discuss issues including "the situation in the Middle East," State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said.

The spokesperson of Iran’s top military command says that its armed forces will fight “until complete victory.”

The comments by Major General Ali Abdollahi Aliabadi of the Khatam-al Anbiya Central Headquarters appeared related to US President Donald Trump’s announcement that negotiations were ongoing between Tehran and Washington.

Iran has denied any talks are taking place, though its foreign minister has been talking to counterparts around the region.

Iranian state television quoted Aliabadi as saying: “Iran’s powerful armed forces are proud, victorious and steadfast in defending Iran’s integrity, and this path will continue until complete victory.”

The UN Human Rights Council said it will hold an urgent debate on Wednesday on Iran's strikes on countries across the Gulf region and their impact on civilians.

The session was called following an official request submitted by Bahrain on behalf of the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries and Jordan.

Human Rights Council spokesman Pascal Sim told a press conference on Tuesday that the countries will present a draft resolution to UN's top rights body.

The council will "discuss the recent military aggression launched by Iran against Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates...targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure, which has resulted in the loss of innocent lives", according to the request.

The Emirati Defence Ministry says air defence systems have responded to five ballistic missiles and 17 drones fired at the Gulf nation.

That has brought the number of projectiles fired at the UAE since the start of the war to 372 missiles and 1,806 drones.

Lebanon's foreign ministry said on Tuesday it had withdrawn the approval of the Iranian ambassador's accreditation, giving him until Sunday to leave the country.

The ministry said in a statement that it had summoned the Iranian charge d'affaires in Lebanon and informed him of "the Lebanese state's decision to withdraw approval of the accreditation of the appointed Iranian ambassador, Mohammad Reza Sheibani, and declare him persona non grata, demanding that he leave Lebanese territory no later than next Sunday."

The ministry said it had also summoned Lebanon's ambassador to Iran "in light of what the Lebanese state described as Tehran's violation of diplomatic norms and established practices between the two countries", after Beirut accused Iran's Revolutionary Guards of commanding Hezbollah's operations in its war against Israel.

Iran has named a former Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander as the new secretary of the country’s Supreme National Security Council, replacing Ali Larijani, who was killed in an air strike.

Iranian state television identified the new secretary as Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr.

Zolghadr reached the rank of brigadier general in the Guard. He had been serving as the secretary of Iran’s Expediency Council.

Israel's military on Tuesday said it had conducted a large number of airstrikes in several areas of Iran, including the central city of Isfahan.

"The IDF has completed a large wave of strikes in Isfahan," the military said in a statement, adding that it had launched a "wide-scale wave of strikes... in several areas in Iran".

German aviation giant Lufthansa and Hong Kong carrier Cathay Pacific have extended flight suspensions to destinations across the Middle East due to the Iran war.

Lufthansa -- which operates Eurowings, Austrian, Swiss and Brussels Airlines and has acquired a stake in Italy's ITA -- said all regional services were cancelled until the end of April due to the "volatile situation".

In addition, most of its carriers had suspended flights to several destinations, including Tehran, Beirut, Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, until 24 October, Europe's biggest airline group said late Monday.

"The Lufthansa group is continuously monitoring and assessing the situation in the Middle East," it said in a statement.

Both Cathay and Lufthansa had already suspended many of their services to the region after the Iran war began on 28 February.

Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region accused Iran on Tuesday of launching an attack against its peshmerga armed forces, following the deaths of six fighters.

"Six Iranian ballistic missiles targeted them" in two attacks, the region's armed forces ministry said in a statement, adding that the incident killed six people and wounded 30 others.

It is the first deadly attack on the regional security forces since the Iran war began on 28 February.

Egypt Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty discussed “potential negotiations” between the US and Iran in a phone call Monday with US envoy Steve Witkoff, the Egyptian foreign ministry said Tuesday.

The ministry said the call came during concerted efforts to revive the “diplomatic path .. as the sole way to avert a comprehensive chaos in the region.”

Abdelatty also spoke with the foreign ministers of Turkey, Pakistan, Oman, Saudi Arabia, UAE, France and Cyprus, the ministry said.

The mayor of Tel Aviv said a "direct strike" damaged a building on Tuesday after an Iranian missile attack warning, as Israeli first responders said they had treated four people for light injuries.

The strike in an upscale neighbourhood in the north of the Israeli coastal city tore open the facade of an old three-storey building and scattered debris across the street, according to reports from the scene.

Tel Aviv mayor Ron Huldai told reporters that the building had been hit by a "direct strike".

According to several Israeli media outlets, including military radio, police believe the damage was caused by a cluster munition missile equipped with three to four warheads, each carrying around 100 kilograms of explosives.

Israel's Magen David Adom emergency medical service released a video from one of the affected apartments that showed extensive damage from the explosion.

MDA said it had treated and quickly discharged four people, revising down an earlier toll of six people lightly wounded.

A source at the MDA said the individuals had inhaled smoke following a small fire caused by the explosion.

The Israeli military had so far issued on Tuesday seven warnings of incoming missile fire from Iran in central and southern Israel, as well as at least six warnings of missiles or rockets fired from Lebanon in the north.

Israel's military has said that it intercepts just over 90% of incoming fire from Iran and regularly reminds residents to take shelter during alerts, as missile defence is not completely "airtight".

Police said they had deployed bomb disposal teams to "several impact sites of munitions" in the Tel Aviv district, but no injuries were reported beyond the four people treated following the direct strike on the residential building.

Iranian state-run media claimed on Tuesday that Israeli-US strikes targeted two gas facilities and a pipeline, hours after US President Donald Trump stepped back from his threat to attack power infrastructure.

"The gas administration building and the gas pressure regulation station on Kaveh Street in Isfahan were targeted" in the strikes, said the Fars news agency.

The facilities in central Iran were "partially damaged", added Fars, which was Iran's only news outlet to report the incident.

It said an attack also targeted the gas pipeline of the Khorramshahr power plant, in the country's southwest.

"A projectile hit the area outside the Khorramshahr gas pipeline processing station," Fars reported, quoting the governor of the city bordering Iraq.

It did not specify the extent of the damage.

Trump's abrupt shift on Iran came hours before the expiration of a two-day ultimatum under which he threatened to attack Iranian power plants if Tehran did not reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian state-run media however said on Monday that there were no negotiations under way towards ending the war.