Iran FM heads to Russia, as Tehran sends 'written messages' to US through mediators

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Iran, through Pakistani mediators, gave the U.S. a new proposal on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and the ending of the war, with nuclear negotiations postponed for a later stage, Axios reported on Sunday, citing a U.S. official and two sources with knowledge of the matter. 

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Saint Petersburg as part of a trip that begins on Monday for talks over the Islamic Republic's war with the United States and Israel, Tehran's ambassador to Moscow said.

Russia and Tehran, who are both subject to fierce Western sanctions, have developed an increasingly close relationship in recent years.

Tehran's ambassador Kazem Jalali wrote on X that Araghchi would meet Putin in Russia's second biggest city.

"Continuing the diplomatic jihad to advance the country's interests and amidst external threats, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran will meet with the President of Russia during his visit to St. Petersburg," he wrote.

Iran's ISNA news agency earlier quoted Jalali as saying "Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit to Moscow," without providing a location for the talks.

The meeting would take place on Monday, Jalali said according to ISNA, adding that Araghchi would "consult Russian officials regarding the latest status of the negotiations, ceasefire, and surrounding developments".

Lebanon's health ministry said Israeli strikes on the country's south on Sunday killed 14 people despite a ceasefire.

The ministry in a statement said the dead included two women and two children, adding that 37 other people were wounded.

Iran's foreign minister departed Islamabad for Moscow on Sunday, his ministry said, ping-ponging from capital to capital as mediators hoped to keep peace talks between Tehran and the United States alive.

Abbas Araghchi sandwiched a visit to Oman's Muscat in between trips to the Pakistani capital, and was set to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Monday, according to the Iranian ambassador, but there remained no indication that direct US-Iranian talks would resume.

On Saturday, US President Donald Trump scotched a planned trip to Islamabad by his negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

Palestinian authorities said Sunday that local elections in a single Gaza community and the occupied West Bank were a success and called them a step toward a long-delayed presidential election in the territories and eventual statehood.

The Palestinian Authority, which administers semiautonomous areas of the West Bank, has described Saturday’s local election in central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah as a largely symbolic pilot, while the authority seeks to politically link the territories.

"Everyone is aware of the political, security and economic conditions, the fragmentation of Palestinian territory, the war on Gaza, and the regional conflict in Iran," Rami Hamdallah, chair of the Ramallah-based Central Election Commission and a former prime minister, told journalists.

"Simply holding the elections in Deir al-Balah is a significant achievement, and we hope to hold elections in other bodies across the Gaza Strip in the near future," he said.

Hezbollah on Sunday rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's accusation that it was jeopardising a ceasefire and said it would keep responding to Israel's own violations and occupation of south Lebanon.

In a statement, Hezbollah said its attacks on Israeli targets in southern Lebanon and northern Israel were "a legitimate response to the enemy's persistent violations of the ceasefire since the first day of the announcement of the temporary truce".

"Hezbollah affirms clearly and firmly that the enemy's continued ceasefire violations... and above all its continued occupation of Lebanese territory and violations of its sovereignty will be met with a response and a resistance that is present and ready to defend its land and people," the statement said.

Russia's foreign ministry on Sunday said that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi would travel to Moscow for talks.

"We confirm a visit by Araghchi to Russia with the aim of holding talks," the ministry told the RIA Novosti news agency, without providing more details.

Earlier, Iran's ISNA news agency quoted Tehran's ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, saying that Araghchi would meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Monday to "consult with Russian officials regarding the latest status of the negotiations, ceasefire, and surrounding developments".

The Israeli military said on Sunday that a soldier was killed in southern Lebanon, where a ceasefire has been in place since mid-April.

Sergeant Idan Fooks, 19, died "during combat" in south Lebanon, while "an officer and three additional soldiers were severely injured, along with a soldier who was moderately injured and a soldier who was lightly injured", the military said.

Under the terms of the truce, which was recently extended, Israel reserves the right to respond to "planned, imminent or ongoing attacks" and has been striking what it says are Hezbollah targets in south Lebanon almost every day.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin during a visit to Moscow on Monday, the ISNA news agency reported.

It cited Tehran's ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, who said that Araghchi would meet Putin and "consult with Russian officials regarding the latest status of the negotiations, ceasefire, and surrounding developments", and present a report on negotiations to end the war with the United States and Israel.

President Donald Trump said on Sunday that Iran can reach out to the United States if it wants to negotiate an end to the war between the two countries.

"If they want to talk, they can come to us, or they can call us. You know, there is a telephone. We have nice, secure lines," Trump said in an inteview on Fox News' "The Sunday Briefing."

Trump canceled a trip by his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Pakistan on Saturday, dealing a new setback to peace prospects after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi departed Islamabad after speaking only to Pakistani officials.

Araghchi has since returned to Pakistan despite the absence of US counterparts.

Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty has discussed, in seperate calls, attempts to renew negotiations between the US and Iran with his counterparts in Qatar and Iran, according to Al Jazeera, citing the foreign ministry.

Hezbollah on Sunday rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's accusation that it was jeopardising a ceasefire, and said it would keep responding to Israel's violations and its occupation of south Lebanon.

In a statement, Hezbollah said its attacks on Israeli targets in south Lebanon and northern Israel were "a legitimate response to the enemy's persistent violations of the ceasefire since the first day of the announcement of the temporary truce".

"Hezbollah affirms clearly and firmly that the enemy's continued ceasefire violations... and above all its continued occupation of Lebanese territory and violations of its sovereignty will be met with a response and a resistance that is... ready to defend its land and people," the statement said.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and US President Donald Trump discussed the urgent need to get shipping moving again in the Strait of Hormuz during a call on Sunday, a Downing Street spokesperson said.

"The leaders discussed the urgent need to get shipping moving again in the Strait of Hormuz, given the severe consequences for the global economy and cost of living for people in the UK and globally," the spokesperson for Starmer's office said in a statement.

"The prime minister shared the latest progress on his joint initiative with President (Emmanuel) Macron to restore freedom of navigation," the spokesperson added.

Iran's top diplomat returned to Pakistan on Sunday following a brief visit to Oman, state media reported, having just left Islamabad the day before.

Iran's official IRNA news agency said Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had arrived during the early evening in Pakistan, which has served as a mediator in diplomatic efforts to end the Middle East war.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has left Muscat and is returning to Islamabad, Tehran's Foreign Ministry said, which said that he will visit Pakistan again before travelling to Moscow

Hengli Petrochemical, one of China's largest independent refiners, denied trade dealings with Iran after the United States imposed sanctions on one of its subsidiaries for allegedly buying Iranian oil.

Hengli "has never engaged in any trade with Iran," and all its crude oil suppliers "guaranteed that the origins of the crude oil supplied do not fall within the scope of US sanctions," the company said in a stock exchange filing on Sunday.

The company has sufficient crude oil inventories to meet processing needs for more than three months, and its crude oil procurement activities have not been affected in any way, it said. The US sanctions on Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Refinery lack factual and legal basis, Hengli said, pledging to strive to lift relevant restrictions.

Lebanese official media said Israel's military began striking the country's south on Sunday after issuing an evacuation warning for seven locations, despite a ceasefire with the Iran-backed Hezbollah group.

"Israeli warplanes launched a strike" in Kfar Tibnit - one of the locations included in the warning - the state-run National News Agency said, adding that there were reports of casualties.

Under the terms of the ceasefire, Israel reserves the right to act against "planned, imminent or ongoing attacks". Israel's military has carried out repeated strikes in Lebanon since the truce came into force on 17 April, and its troops are operating inside an Israeli-announced "yellow line" near the border where Lebanese residents have been warned not to return.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said Hezbollah's actions in Lebanon are "dismantling" the ceasefire agreed between Israel and Lebanon.

"It must be understood that Hezbollah's violations are, in practice, dismantling the ceasefire," Netanyahu said during a weekly cabinet meeting.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi held talks in Oman on Sunday and discussed security in the Strait of Hormuz and broader Gulf waters and diplomatic efforts to end the Iran-US conflict, according to an Iranian foreign ministry statement.

In talks in Muscat with Oman's Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said, Araqchi said the US military presence in the Middle East was fuelling insecurity and division and called for a regional security framework free of outside interference.

Lebanon's health ministry said that seven people have been killed and 24 injured in Israeli raids on south Lebanon in the last 24 hours.

The Israeli military ordered the evacuation of seven villages in southern Lebanon on Sunday, saying it would respond to what it said were Hezbollah's violations of a recently-renewed ceasefire agreement between the countries.

"In light of the terrorist organisation Hezbollah's violation of the ceasefire agreement, the [army] is compelled to take decisive action against it," the military's Arabic-language spokesman Colonel Avichay Adraee said on X, naming seven villages south of the Litani River.

Iran's foreign minister was due to return to Pakistan on Sunday as international mediators try to keep peace talks on track despite US President Donald Trump calling off his envoys' planned trip.

According to the Iranian news agency ISNA, Abbas Araghchi would again meet Pakistani officials to convey "Iran's positions and views on the framework of any understanding to completely end the war".

The minister had been in Islamabad only the day before, after which he travelled to Oman, while other Iranian envoys had headed back to Tehran "to consult and obtain the necessary instructions on issues related to ending the war", according to ISNA.

Israel has issued new warnings to residents of South Lebanon, with Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee saying that residents should move south of a line of key villages, nor return or pass through other towns and villages, including Naqoura, Bint Jbeil, Aitaroun, Maroun al-Ras, Meiss al-Jabal, Blida, and others, according to Haaretz.

Iran's internet blackout is now on day 58, according to internet monitor NetBlocks, which said that "the ongoing measure remains in effect, impeding independent reporting and documentation nationwide."

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has spoken to US negotiators about the latest development in US-Iran talks, according to Al Jazeera.

Israeli military attacks killed at least four Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, health officials in the enclave said.

Medics said an airstrike carried out by Israel's forces killed one person near the central village of Al-Mughraqa, while Israeli gunfire and tank shelling killed two others near Gaza City.

In another incident, Israeli forces shot and killed a 40-year-old woman in Khan Younis, in the south of the territory, health officials said.

Iran executed a man convicted of being a member of the Sunni militant group Jaish al-Adl and carrying out attacks on Iranian security forces, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Sunday.

Authorities identified the man as Amer Ramesh, saying he had been arrested in a counter-terrorism operation in southeastern Iran and charged with armed rebellion, including being involved in bombings and ambushes targeting military personnel.

Jaish al-Adl is an extremist Sunni Muslim militant group active in Iran's poorest region, Sistan-Baluchestan.

The Sultan of Oman, Haitham bin Tariq Al Said has met Iran's foreign minister ⁠Abbas Araghchi in Muscat, where both sides discussed the regional situation and mediation efforts aimed at ending the Iran war, Oman's state news agency reported on Sunday.